


Verbuar

by StillWatersAreDeep



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Dumbledore Being a Dick, Eventual Romance, Godfather Severus Snape, M/M, Slash, Suicide, Tragedy, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2017-12-03 16:57:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 180,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/700565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillWatersAreDeep/pseuds/StillWatersAreDeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal,” What if this prophecy made Lord Slytherin, adored ruler of Magical Britain, want to marry Harry Potter? A TMR/HP Tragedy AU, Dark. Please mind the warnings!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** **(for the whole story):** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

 **Summary:** "The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal," What if this prophesy made Lord Slytherin, adored ruler of Magical Britain, want to marry Harry Potter? A TMR/HP Tragedy AU, Dark. Please mind the warnings!

 **Pairings:** Tom/Harry, other side pairings like Draco/Astoria, Lucius/Narcissa, James/Lily, Sirius/Remus

 **Rating:** NC-17

 **Warnings:** This is placed in the category Tragedy for a reason! It includes dark themes, AU, some OOC because of the AU, self-harm, m-preg, arrange marriage and **temporary** Character Deathafter suicide.

The reason for the last warning is that the first plot arc (tragedy) will **not** have a HEA(Happily-ever-after), though the second arc (romance) **will have** a HEA-ending as a 'What if'-sequel. So, if you can live with a temporary character death before the HEA this is your story.

There's also villain Dumbledore and good Tom, but read for yourself.

Also English isn't my native language.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **AN:** A warm welcome to my new readers. Hello again to my old readers. This story (especially the last third) will be much, much darker than my previous ones. Still, I hope that you'll enjoy reading this story.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar* -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Prologue -~-~-**

My name is Harry James Riddle, nee Potter, former consort of Lord Slytherin and this is the story of my short life.

One could say that my life already headed downhill―or as the Seers like Sybill Trelawney loved to call it, was fated to be doomed―six months before I was born.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

It was a snowy night in the beginning of February of nineteen-eighty when a chain of unfortunate events built the basis for my condemned life. It all began as Severus Snape, who at the young age of twenty was already Lord Slytherin's most trusted and talented Potions master and would become one of my future godfathers, entered the Hog's Head to meet with Mundungus Fletcher.

While Severus had no love left for Fletcher, he was in a desperate need of chimaera eggshells for his latest potion and the dubious black market dealer had promised to deliver the as Non-Tradeable Substance classified Potions ingredient today at seven.

As Severus was ascending the stairs to room number three where he would meet with Fletcher, he noticed that the door to room one was halfway opened. And just as he was about to walk pass the door, he heard a husky trance-like voice begin to speak. Intrigued, he stopped to listen to the voice. And what he heard was beyond anything he had hoped to gain from meeting Mundungus Fletcher at the Hog's Head.

"The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal," Sybill Trelawney spoke in her Seer-trance, her voice being carried from Room One out into the hallway where Severus was standing.

Unfortunately, this was all Severus heard of the prophesy made by the young Trelawney before the soft and husky voice of the great-great-granddaughter of the famous Seer Cassandra Trelawney was drowned out by the loud yell of Aberforth Dumbledore―the owner of the Hog's Head.

"How many more times do I have to tell you that you're band from this establishment," Aberforth angrily screamed up the stairs as he saw Mundungus Fletcher already halfway up the landing.

"Come on you rat, out with you!" Aberforth said, as he grabbed Fletcher by his dirty robes and dragged him towards the door.

By the time the noise level subdued, Trelawney had already come out of her trance and stopped speaking.

 _Why did the dunderhead asked me to meet him in the Hog's head when he's banned from it?_ Severus asked himself, annoyed with the black market dealer. Contemplating whether he should get a hold of Fletcher or the Seer first, he decided that whoever was in room one would still be there in five minutes, while Fletcher most likely would run off in some moments. So, he turned on his heals to go after Aberforth, who was currently busy shoving Mundungus out of the pub's door, hoping to catch Fletcher before he could Apparate away with his chimaera eggshells.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

With a purposeful stride and chimaera eggshells in his inner robes pocket, Severus re-entered the pub and walked to the room where he had heard the prophesy being spoken from. When he discovered that the only occupant of the room was a young woman with wild brown hair, sitting in an uncomfortable chair with her back facing the entrance, he walked straight up to her.

"Tell me, woman, what else did you say after 'our Lord will make him his equal'!" the dark-haired Potions master demanded in a no nonsense voice as soon as he was standing in front of the chair the young brunette was occupying.

"Me?" Trelawney squished out, intimidated by Severus' threatening stance in front of her.

"Yes, you!" Snape barked out, needing to know what else the prophesy said.

"I didn't say anything after I entered this room," the frightened woman finally stammered out after some moments, wondering if she may have talked while she had dozed off for a minute.

As the Potions master's face obviously became even angrier at her words, she hastily continued speaking. "I was just sitting here by myself, waiting for Headmaster Dumbledore's arrival. He is in the dire need of a new Divinations teacher and I've applied for this important position," Trelawney explained, hoping that the mentioning of the well respected headmaster of Hogwarts would be enough to save her from the Potions master's fury.

But in the end, it wasn't Dumbledore's name but his appearance in the room which saved her from any further harm Severus might have inflicted on her to hear the rest of the prophesy.

"Ah, Severus, my boy, what a nice surprise. What brings you here?" Albus Dumbledore asked his former student as joyful as ever.

"I was just asking this woman to tell me the second half of the prophesy she made minutes ago," he informed the headmaster. _Maybe she will tell the whole prophesy to her future employer, especially since she said she is applying for the Divinations post,_ Severus thought as he―contrary to his better judgement―told Dumbledore of the existence of the prophesy.

"And here I thought you wanted to offer to take over teaching Potions from Horace," Dumbledore said, saddened. He would have loved to have Severus as the new Potions master of Hogwarts, but it seemed like he would need to find someone else for the post before the next school year started.

Remembering why the young Potions master was here, he asked, "If my memory serves me correctly, you never took Divinations at Hogwarts, did you?"

"No," Severus answered, wondering where this talk was headed as he was only interested in the rest of the prophesy.

"Then, my boy, you most likely don't know that a Seer is in a trance when they make their prophesies and can't remember their words when they come out of the trance. So, I fear, Severus, that we will never know the rest," Albus explained to his former student.

 _Wonderful,_ Severus thought, sarcastically. _Why couldn't the idiot Fletcher decide to arrive five minutes later?_ Out loud he said, "Then I've no further business here and will take my leave so that you can begin with your job interview." And with that, he left the room in a whirlwind of his black robes.

Once outside the Hog's Head Snape Apparated back towards his Lord's Manor in England. Lord Slytherin surely will be very interested to hear about the prophesy, even if Severus could only provide him with half of it.

Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore was very happy that he could cut the interview short. While he would have liked to discontinue Divinations being taught at Hogwarts, he at least believed that Severus wouldn't lie about having heard a prophesy being made by Trelawney. Therefore, for all intents and purposes Sybill Trelawney qualified to teach Divinations.

And while he pretended to listen to Sybill talking about her great-great-grandmother's gift, he wondered what the prophesy Severus Snape had heard was about.

 _It surely would have to be something very important if Severus was so interested to hear the second half,_ Dumbledore mused. _But as Severus regrettably is loyal to Lord Slytherin, he won't tell me the contents on his own accord. Maybe I could try to..._ , Dumbledore began to plot.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When Severus arrived at the driveway to Slytherin Manor, which was located at the outskirts of **Northallerton*** , he walked straight to Lord Slytherin's study on the second floor.

"Enter," Tom Marvolo Riddle, the current Lord Slytherin and ruler of Magical Britain, called from behind the closed ebony door after Severus knocked on it twice.

Opening the door, Snape walked towards the pear wood desk situated near the big window overlooking the garden, behind which Lord Slytherin sat.

While Lord Slytherin was already fifty-three years old, he still looked like the handsome pale twenty-one year old wizard with dark wavy hair and black eyes he had been at the day of his crowning. And while he had been very young at that time, the wizards and witches of Britain soon loved him. Not because of his beauty, but because he was a fair and highly intelligent ruler.

Many of the history books even went so far as to say that Tom Marvolo Riddle becoming Lord Slytherin was the best thing that happened to Britain since the construction of Hogwarts. Though, this mostly had to do with how Tom came into power.

While Tom's grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, had been a good ruler, his son and heir Morfin had been ruthless and cruel. So, everyone was relieved when Morfin died not even three years after becoming Lord Slytherin. As Morfin Gaunt didn't leave behind any children the title went to his only sibling, his sister Merope Riddle, nee Gaunt. But because the laws say that only a male could claim the Slytherin title, it was her twenty-one year old son, Tom, who became Lord Slytherin.

While some of the pure-bloods at the beginning were sceptical if the son of the Muggle-born Tom Riddle Sr., and therefore a half-blood, would be able to handle the role which had always been played by a pure-blood descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin himself, Tom soon showed that he was more than qualified for the job of the ruler of Magical Britain.

The only thing speaking against him was that he still was without a spouse and more importantly an heir, even if many women had tried and were still trying to gain their Lord's attention. Bellatrix Black, a famous healer, was currently the one woman most desperate to become Mrs Riddle as her parents had informed her that she would have to marry Rodolphus Lestrange if she was unsuccessful in her attempt to catch Lord Slytherin's heart.

"Ah, Severus," Tom said, when he saw who had sought him out tonight. "What brings you here tonight?" he asked, offering the Potions master a seat.

"My Lord," Severus greeted, sitting down in the comfortable green leather chair. "I come because I've important news," he began.

"And what may they be?" Riddle asked, knowing that Severus would never come to him after dinner time if it wasn't important. After all, it was well known that he didn't want to be disturbed after seven.

"I was in the Hog's Head tonight. And while I was waiting for the Potions ingredient dealer to arrive, I overheard a prophesy," Severus explained his unannounced visit.

"And what did the prophesy say?" Lord Slytherin asked, resting his chin on his folded hands, interested in what Snape had to report.

Though, Tom could not help but wonder why Severus would go to the Hog's Head. He knew that Severus only worked with top quality ingredients, something which wouldn't be sold at a place like the Hog's Head. So, Snape had to have gone to get something which was most likely illegal in Britain. But, this could wait until later, now he just wanted to know what the prophesy said.

"It said, 'The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal'" Severus repeated the part of the prophesy he had heard word for word to his Lord.

"Nothing more?" Riddle asked, hoping that it may have said how his reign would be secured.

"I believe that there was more," the Potions master admitted. "But," he added before he could be interrupted, "I was unable to hear it as the voice of the Seer was drowned out by Aberforth's loud yell. I, of course, tried to find out the rest but, unfortunately, the Seer had been alone in the room, so no one knows if anything else had been said or what it was."

"How very unfortunate," Riddle said in a calm, calculating voice.

"So, who else knows of this prophesy?" Lord Slytherin asked after some moments of silence.

"Besides you, my Lord, and myself, only the Seer and Albus Dumbledore are aware of the prophesy's existence," Severus answered the question.

"And why does the old fool know about it?" Tom questioned, angered that of all the people the meddlesome headmaster of Hogwarts knew about it.

Tom Riddle had never liked Albus Dumbledore because the old man had never treated him with the respect he deserved during his Hogwarts years, simply because Tom, while being part of the royal family, was still a half-blood which made him nothing more than a commoner in the eyes of the pure-blood traditionalist.

He would love to get him replaced as the headmaster of Hogwarts but with Dumbledore being the defeater of Gellert Grindelwald, he was still too popular to easily sack. So, Riddle had no other choice right now than to wait until the old man would either resign or die.

"Headmaster Dumbledore entered the room while I was trying to get the second half of the prophesy out of the Seer. Apparently the woman had been waiting for him to arrive because they had a job interview for the Divinations post scheduled," Severus explained Dumbledore's knowledge about the prophesy's existence. And because he knew that there was no love lost between Hogwarts' headmaster and Lord Slytherin, he added, "Though, Dumbledore doesn't know what the prophesy is about."

Riddle only nodded his head in response to the words. "You did good, Severus, in reporting the prophesy to me," Lord Slytherin praised. "You can go now," he then dismissed his Potions master, wanting to be alone to contemplate what he would do with the new knowledge.

 _While Severus was unable to bring me the whole prophesy, the part he heard is at least informative enough to point me in the right direction,_ Tom thought after Severus closed the study's ebony door behind him.

Especially the last sentences gave Lord Slytherin many details about the second person the prophesy was referring to.

 _So, the person to assure my reign will be born at the end of July, most likely in this year,_ Lord Slytherin thought. _Also, this person will obviously be male. A male carrier even, or otherwise I wouldn't be able to marry him and thus make him my equal as the prophesy suggests,_ he deciphered from the last part of the prophesy.

 _At least not many male carries are born, so that will considerably cut down the number of probable candidates,_ Tom thought with a smirk, getting up from his chair; it was time to finally retire for the day.

 _It is a shame that prophesies aren't automatically **recorded*** when they're made,_ Lord Slytherin thought as he closed and locked his study's door to walk to the master bedroom of Slytherin Manor on the third floor.

Lord Slytherin of course was right with his assumption that the male being a carrier would severely cut down the possible persons the prophesy could refer to. Only about one out of fifty wizards had the ability to get pregnant. Thus, a male carrier―or a **Foreas*** to use the technical term―was only born every one or two years in Britain. And in nineteen-eighty only one boy would turn out to be a Foreas.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Maybe Severus would never have told Tom Riddle about the prophesy if he had known the second half of it. Or maybe he would have done his best to make sure that the other path the prophesy proposed would have been followed instead of the path to destruction we unknowingly followed. But, as Fate had wanted it, on this snowy evening in February the path my life would take was already decided to be the path of destruction instead of the path of happiness it also offered. And so, the story of my life set out to end in a tragedy...

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Verbuar:** Blinded in Albanian according to Google Translator.

 **Northallerton:** As Great and Little Hangleton don't exist in reality, I searched for a real town which like Little Hangleton was located in the North of England and was about 200 miles away from London. I found Northallerton, which is about 230 miles away from London and located in the North of England. It also has a Country club nearby. So, it would be a good location for Slytherin's manor.

 **No recorded prophesies:** In my AU a Prophesy room doesn't exist in the Ministry, so Tom can't find out the second half of the prophesy from the record which exists in canon.

 **Foreas:** Greek for bearer/carrier according to Google Translator, though there it is actually written as Foréas.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** Thank you for taking the time to read the prologue. Should I continue writing, or are the story warnings too much for you?


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **AN:** Since enough people are interested in this story, here is the next chapter. Though, don't expect the next update to be this fast. Also, as Tom isn't a paedophile and Harry is telling the story of his life, the next couple of chapters will be about Harry's childhood. The romance part will follow later.

* * *

**Important announcement to the ones who've read the prologue before 28.02.2013:**

Because of the feedback I changed one of the warnings. Now it is " **temporary** **Character Death after suicide** " as you encouraged me to have a HEA. Because of this Verbuar will have two main arcs: The Tragedy Arc without a HEA, which is immediately followed by the Romance Arc with a HEA.

This way I get to write the tragedy I intended to write, while you still get the HEA in the end. :) Besides, this way it matches the image picture of this story a lot better than before. ;) But on with the story...

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 1 -~-~-**

There was a short time in my life where someone else could have been given my lot in life. In those short thirty-four hours both Severus Snape and Lord Slytherin couldn't help but assume for the time being that Neville Longbottom was the child the prophesy had spoken of.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Dear, shy Neville was born on the thirtieth of July just after two o'clock in the afternoon to Frank and Alice Longbottom. He was, so far, the only boy to be born at the end of July. And while there was still roughly a day left for another child to greet the world in the time frame set by the prophesy, Neville seems to be the obvious candidate for Lord Slytherin's future consort.

Both Alice and Frank Longbottom were Aurors and had fought three times alongside Lord Slytherin against the rouge werewolf Fenrir Greyback and his pack, who didn't agree with Riddle's Wolfsbane Potion based werewolf policy and wanted to wreak havoc on every full moon night. Thus, they also fulfilled the prophesy's condition that the parents have thrice stood with Lord Slytherin.

Still, Tom Riddle decided to wait until the first of August to state his possible claim on the boy, when he was informed on that warm Wednesday afternoon in July that Alice Longbottom had given birth to a healthy baby boy.

Severus, on the other hand, was at that time sure in his belief that Neville would have to be the prophesied child. There weren't many women who could say that they thrice stood with Lord Slytherin. And out of those only two had been pregnant when the prophesy was made and also expecting a son. One of them was, of course, Alice Longbottom who had given birth earlier that day and the other woman was none other than Severus' own childhood friend Lily Potter, nee Evans. But, his beloved Lily's due day was on the eleventh of August. _So, only Longbottom's child could possibly be the prophesied one,_ Severus thought, secure that his assumption was correct.

But in the end, it seems like Tom Riddle was right to hesitate and wait until July was irrevocably over, as Fate thought it would be a good idea to send my mother into an early labour the next night.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Severus was just about to change into his sleeping attire around eleven in the evening on the thirty-first of July when he received a Floo call from James Potter saying that Lily had gone into an early labour. Quickly grabbing everything he would need to help his friend and informing a house-elf on where he intended to go, he hasted to Godric's Hollow and my mother's side.

And while Severus was slightly concerned that I would be born nearly two weeks early, Lord Slytherin was almost ecstatic as the house-elf informed him why his Potions master had left Slytherin Manor at such a late hour.

Without any future thoughts about the one day old Neville Longbottom, then and there, Tom Marvolo Riddle immediately decided that I must be the boy the prophesy had spoken of.

When Lord Slytherin was asked some days later by my godfather Severus why he thought the prophesy referred to me and not Neville, he would argue that the time of my birth―11:52 pm, 31st July 1980―is obviously a clear sign that I must be the child of the prophesy. If the prophesy would have meant Neville, then it would have been phrased 'as the seventh month _is about to_ _end_ ' instead of ' _dies_ ' was his justification.

Though, to tell the truth, I myself believe that Tom had simply chosen me because I was, like himself, a half-blood. Maybe it had also something to do with Albus Dumbledore and his opinion that only pure-bloods could achieve something big and Tom simply wanted to prove him wrong with showing that another half-blood would secure the current half-blooded Lord Slytherin's reign. Who knows?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

With I being born premature, the eleventh of August changed from being my expected birthday to be the day of my baptism; and unknown to most guests, at that the day I also became informally engaged to Lord Slytherin.

Knowing my father, he would have loved to announce, not only that my godfathers were his best friend, Sirius Black, and his wife's best friend, Severus Snape, but also that I would probably be the one to finally marry their beloved ruler, Lord Slytherin.

But fortunately for me, Lord Slytherin had asked―or demanded to be precise―my father to keep this little verbal engagement a secret until Riddle himself chose to announce it.

Besides, there was also this tiny, little condition to their arrangement which said that if I didn't turn out to be a Foreas, the engagement would be off immediately. And James Potter wouldn't dare to risk embarrassing himself and the Potter name with bragging about his child being the future consort of Lord Slytherin, only to have to eat his words seven years later when the engagement was off because his son didn't turn out to be a Foreas. So, under those circumstances, it was a good thing that a Foreas only gained the ability to carry children on his seventh birthday and couldn't be identified as one before that time.

Because of this, traditionally soon after their seventh birthday every wizard with at least one magical parent underwent the **Elencho Foreas*** ,as the test determining if your child was a Foreas or not was formally called. Some parents even eagerly awaited the Elencho Foreas if the boy was not the firstborn because it would enable them to marry their younger son off to influential families.

However, my at that time still unknown Foreas status didn't deter Tom from already secretly stating his claim on me for all to see with gifting me with an earring. To not make his claim to obvious, he decided against the traditional earrings Lord Slytherin's consorts wore. So, instead of a pair of silver snake earrings, he chose a pair of lightening bolts made of platinum with one emerald on top of them for me to wear.

Thus, as a symbol of his marriage offer, he sent one of the lightening bolt earrings to my father on my baptism day, together with the promise to gift me with the second one after my Foreas status would be verified and the request to tell no one, not even me, that the earring was a gift from Lord Slytherin and that I would have to wear the earring at all times.

Of course, my father was more than happy to comply with his Lord's wishes and promptly secured the platinum lightening bolt earring to my left ear; and when asked from who it was from he would say that it was a present from a valued family friend. However, the earring wasn't all Tom gave me for my birth and baptism.

While Lord Slytherin wondered why both his second and first in-command―James Potter and Lucius Malfoy―thought it would be a good idea to name his Potions master the godfather of their firstborn children, it didn't stop Tom from not so subtly punishing Severus for being unable to provide him with the second half of the prophesy.

So, along with my platinum earring, he sent an over one meter tall black cuddly toy dog because he knew for a fact that there was no love lost between Severus and my second godfather Sirius Black, whose Animagus form was the exact copy of the cuddly toy.

Surprisingly, his plan backfired. Instead of Severus, who was angered when he saw the gigantic plush toy, Sirius was the one who made a ruckus and yelled out, "Dammit, why didn't I come up with such a gift?!"

Glancing accusingly around the guests, he tried to find the culprit behind the 'stolen' Best-Present-Ever idea, muttering angrily under his breath, "Now, even if Harry will love the toy―which I'm sure he will―Snivellus can still say that it wasn't from me."

"Don't worry, Sirius. I'm sure that Harry will love the real Padfoot more than the stupid cuddly toy copy," Remus Lupin tried to cheer up his friend and lover.

"If I were you, Lupin, I wouldn't call that particular plush toy stupid," Severus suddenly spoke up from beside the two Marauders.

"And why should we listen to you, Snivellus?" Sirius bawled at Snape, angry at the Potions master's interference.

"Because, Black," Severus sneered, his voice clearly saying 'You're a dunderhead', "that chubby toy dog is a present from Lord Slytherin."

As intended this made Sirius shut up in an instant. With the mission to silence and embarrass the annoying dogfather―as Severus called Black in the privacy of his mind―accomplished, Snape left the pair before Black could come out of his momentary stupor, a satisfied smirk firmly placed on his face.

The Potions master's smirk grew even wider when he noticed that his friend Lucius was also looking in the direction of the black toy dog. While most people wouldn't notice the fury and jealousy hidden behind the famous Malfoy mask, Severus knew the blond man well enough to detect those hidden emotions underneath the calm surface.

Poor _Lucius,_ Severus thought. _While the blond is Lord Slytherin's first in-command, his son_ _Draco had only received a child-size plush dragon. What a shame it must be to see that Potter, as only the second-in-command, had received an overly large plush dog as a present for his son. Oh, if_ dear _Lucius only knew that Harry's toy is so much larger because Riddle plans to marry the boy in the future,_ Severus thought, having rightly guessed from the over-the-top size toy that Lord Slytherin had decided that Harry was the prophesied child.

 _Oh, how his face will be the perfect image of jealousy and anger when he learns about our Lord's intentions,_ the Potions master thought amused, walking over to where Lucius was standing with his two month old son, Draco.

 _It seems like his plan to show off Lord Slytherin's present to his son backfired,_ Severus thought when he noticed that Draco was holding onto his silver and green plush toy dragon, which was only about twenty centimetres long, opposed to the one metre long plush dog I received.

 _At least both Black and Lucius will grace me with some amusements before I have to go to Hogwarts next week,_ Severus thought, his good mood dropping.

He hadn't wanted to become Hogwarts' new Potions Professor but as Lord Slytherin heavily distrusted Albus Dumbledore, he had ordered Snape to apply for the newly opened post. This way Severus would be able to prevent the Headmaster of Hogwarts to manipulate me.

 _I really hate how happy Albus looked when I told him yesterday that I want to become his new Potions master,_ Severus thought. _Knowing the meddling old fool, he surely was more happy about chances to elicit the prophesy from me in the future than having gotten a new staff member. Or since when does someone immediately employ a new teacher after only saying, "I would like to replace Professor Slughorn."?_ Severus argued. _Thank Merlin that I am a far better Occlumens than even Lord Slytherin, or Albus would surely love to mind rape me every time we see each other until he found out what the prophesy said,_ Snape thought, already loathing his new 'job'.

However, the prospect of having to teach dunderheads for the next eighteen years and the fact that the party was thrown in my honour, didn't stop Severus from also paying attention to his other godson who was asleep in Lucius' arms. It really was a good thing for him that Draco and I would grew up to be the bests of friends or otherwise Severus would have become the centre of a tug war between me and Draco.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Lucius and Sirius weren't the only ones who had been looking with negative emotions at the big black plush toy that day. My father James Potter was busy glancing back and forth between the dog and my sleeping form in my mother's arms. It seems like my dear father was second-guessing his decision to have me engaged to Lord Slytherin this early in my life.

My father, of course, had been happy and greatly honoured that his Lord would not only hold him back after a meeting to congratulate him on his son's birth, but also was proposing an informal engagement to the same son. But now, when he had some time to let it all sink in, he wondered if he was right to so easily agree with his Lord.

In the magical world it was a tradition that the firstborn son would be the heir to the family name and fortune. But if I married Riddle, then I couldn't become the Potter heir any longer. The fact that Lord Slytherin would already be in his early seventies when the wedding would actually occur was also a small thing he worried about, because a teenager surely wouldn't find a seventy-something year old man remotely attractive.

However, he quashed the first point of worry with the argument that he and my mother were still young and had easily fifty or more years left to have another child who could carry on the Potter name. The second one was quashed with how well Lord Slytherin had aged so far. If his Lord at the age of fifty-three still looked like twenty-one, he surely wouldn't look a day older than twenty-five by the time I graduated from Hogwarts.

 _And a seventeen year old wouldn't have anything against marrying a twenty-five year old looking, overly handsome and attractive, and not to forget powerful ruler of Magical Britain, would they?_ My father argued in his head and forgot all about his earlier worries as he walked over to Sirius and Remus, hoping that he could calm down his friend's current display of temper.

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And this is how, not even two weeks after my birth, I became informally engaged to Lord Slytherin, only because Tom Riddle was sure in his belief that I, and not Neville Longbottom, had to be the Foreas who would secure his reign.

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**Elencho Foreas:** Carrier testing in Greek according to Google Translator, though there it is actually written as élencho foréa.

 **Lightening bolts earrings:** An image on how I imagine the earrings to look like can be found on my profile page. Though, the bolts I imagine are thinner than shown there. ( )

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**AN:** Please tell me how you liked this chapter or comment on the changed warning and plot line.

The next update should be sometime in April/May. Until then...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** Torture and injuries

 **AN:** Here is another chapter for you. Earlier than previously announced, but I don't think you mind not having to wait another two months for an update. ;) By the way, you can see the current writing status on my profile page.

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**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 2 -~-~-**

The first year of my life was full of big events. My first real smile in September, the first time I slept through the night in November, my first ride on Padfoot―the Animagus, not the cuddly toy―on Christmas morning, my first step some days before my first birthday in July to name a few. Though, they all paled in comparison to what happened on Halloween in nineteen-eighty-one when I was fifteen months old.

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My parents had decided to host a Halloween party. And while I was still too young to understand the meaning behind the Wizarding holiday Samhain and the Muggle customs of Halloween, it didn't stop my father from dressing me up in a lion costume―courtesy of my godfather Sirius―and inviting my two best friends, Neville and Draco, for the celebration.

Of course, their parents were also invited to the party together with Sirius, Remus, Peter and Severus. Though, the last three guests had to cancel. Remus couldn't come because he was away on the continent to fulfil his duty as one of Lord Slytherin's ambassadors. Peter had owled a letter saying that he had gotten a cold and didn't want to risk infecting the other guests, especially not the small kids.

Severus, on the other hand, had to excuse himself because Headmaster Dumbledore hadn't allowed him to leave Hogwarts on a school night, especially not one where the kids were on sugar highs because of all the sweets they ate during the Halloween dinner and some of them would most likely end up being in the need of one of Severus' potions. So no, the new Potions master of Hogwarts couldn't leave the grounds on Halloween.

While I was happily munching on a pumpkin pastry and Draco took a sip of his pumpkin juice, the two of us sitting together on the carpeted living room floor, Alice Longbottom had just picked up her son Neville to change his sully diaper.

The rest of the adults were watching us kids while exchanging funny stories about us. For example, Narcissa told them about how her little dragon—who for the occasion was dressed in a dragon costume—hadn't wanted to go to sleep one afternoon because he wanted to continue playing with his toy blocks—or to be accurate, wanted to continue watching how the house-elf Dobby made the block tower higher and higher with every new piece he levitated.

So, to make her son go to bed, Narcissa had told him that he would get a piece of apple pie for afternoon tea. Though, Dobby could only bake the pie if he wasn't busy levitating blocks, she explained to him in a way even a nearly one and a half year old could understand. It was funny to see how fast little Draco stopped saying his favourite word "No" and instead rushed, as fast as he could on his little legs, towards his bed at the promise of his favourite dessert.

However, the joyous laughs of the adults were interrupted by a loud "Bang" when the front door of our house was blasted out of its hinges.

Everyone instantly grabbed their wands, ready to fight off whoever was currently attacking them. The only one who didn't reach for her wand was Narcissa. The blonde Malfoy matriarch sprinted, together with my mother, over to where Draco and I were sitting on the floor. While my mother stood guard over her and us, Narcissa picked up the both of us and made a rush for the Floo—the quickest way to safety available for us; Lily hot on her heels.

Though, before we could reach the safety of the fireplace where Alice was already waiting with Neville in her arms, Fenrir Greyback entered my parents' living room together with seven of his pack members. And while that Halloween night wasn't a full moon and the afternoon sun was still shining outside, the werewolves were still half-transformed, sporting more than the normal amount of body hair, as well as sharp claws on their hands. So, they all had obviously consumed an incorrectly brewed version of the Wolfsboon Potion. This potion had the opposite effects of the Wolfsbane potion and would allow a werewolf to transform into his wolf form even if it was still light outside and the full moon days away. Of course, under Tom Riddle's reign this potion was classified as illegal.

"The big, bad wolf and his friends have arrived, my little sheep," Greyback barked out as he ran into the living room, blindly casting some Blasting Curses around the room.

"And don't forget the little lambs," Greyback's fifty-five year old looking beta added, a hungry look on his face as he stared at Draco and I in Narcissa's arms. Fenrir's second in command was known to have a special liking for small children. The younger, the better was his motto. Thus, it wasn't surprising for the occupants of the room when he made a mad rush towards the blonde Malfoy woman before she could escape with his prey.

They needed every fighter they could get to fend off the rouge werewolves as they were already outnumbered. Therefore, Narcissa somehow managed to also take Neville into her arms, so that Alice could stay behind and fight too. While my mother threw some Floo powder into the flames, the beta wolf was already only two metres away from me and Draco.

The blond's mother hastily called out, "Malfoy Manor". But before she could reach the safety of the green flames, the werewolf already lunged with his razor sharp claws after me, as I was the closest to him.

"Not my son!" my mother, Lily, screamed as she threw her own body in the claws' path, letting out a scream of pain as her left shoulder was torn open, leaving behind a deep red bleeding line. But, she would take the pain any day if it meant that I would be safe.

So, with a grimaced smile on her face, she fired a cutting hex back at her attacker as soon as the flames behind Narcissa Malfoy had turned from green to their normal orange-red colour.

 _Thank Merlin, the boys are safe,_ was all the adults thought as they watched the fireplace before they started to attack the intruders with everything they had.

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As soon as Narcissa was in the safety of Malfoy Manor, she called out for Dobby to bring her the spare playpen. After putting a crying Neville, a frightened Draco and a surprisingly totally and unnaturally calm me down in the playpen, she went back to the Floo to call for help.

First, she contacted her sister Bellatrix at the Lestrange Manor. Not only was her sister a famous healer, but also a powerful duellist. So, depending on how the fight went Bella could either help fighting or she could start on healing anyone who was gravely injured.

After Narcissa had told her what was happening, Bellatrix immediately flooed to my home to help my parents, her husband of seven months and brother-in-law in tow.

Next on Narcissa's contact list was Severus. He, like Bella, was a powerful dueller, but that wasn't why she called him. As a Potions master, he would be able to supply them with any healing potions they may need.

"Severus," the blonde called out into Snape's living room at Hogwarts.

"Hello, Narcissa," the Potions master answered her in his deep voice as he walked from his armchair towards the fireplace.

"Something terrible happened. Greyback is attacking the Potters' home," she hastily explained her reason for calling.

That, of course, got Severus' attention. "I'm on my way," he said, rushing into his bedroom to grab his emergency potions kit that he always had ready for situations just like this one. He didn't even think what Dumbledore would say about his abrupt departure when the headmaster heard of this.

But, the Potions master wasn't the only one who was spurred into action. Lord Slytherin got up from his armchair when he heard that I was in danger.

"Are the children safe?" he immediately asked Narcissa as he turned into the view of the fireplace. Severus had told him about the Halloween party my parents were throwing for me and my two friends.

"I'm sorry, my Lord. I haven't seen you," she began, excusing her lack of a proper greeting. "But, yes, the children are safe. I'd been able to escape with them before the fight could really start."

"Good," Riddle said, relieved that I and the others were safe.

Just then Severus re-entered the room with his emergency potions kit. "If you'll let us through," he asked the Malfoy matriarch.

Narcissa didn't hesitate to cancel the Floo call, so that Severus' Floo would be free for him and Tom to travel to my family's house in Godric's Hollow.

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"How dare you to attack my Drakky-poo and my Harry-kins," an angry Bellatrix Lestrange yelled as she stepped out of the Floo, wand at the ready.

While the woman was a brilliant witch, both Draco and I hated the nicknames Bella gave us when we were still little kids and continued to use during the rest of our lives. But then, when wasn't someone brilliant also a bit mad? At least her madness was restricted to the occasional baby-talk when she was really angry or really happy about something. And for a Black, this was a rather mild form of insanity.

Looking around, she saw that her brother-in-law Lucius had already been able to immobilise and to constrain one of the werewolves and was now busy fighting against a second one. Her cousin Sirius was standing back to back with my father, fighting against three of the half-transformed wolves who had surrounded them. My mother Lily was trying her best to defend herself against the beta of the pack with her injured left shoulder.

Frank Longbottom was currently trying his best to finish off his opponent, so that he could assist his wife Alice, who was currently about to lose against Fenrir Greyback. The leader of the werewolf back had instantly run towards the brunette and attacked her with vigour.

"Oh, you'll pay, you little bitch, for severely injuring my mate," Greyback snarled at Alice, who was already heavily wounded and lying on the ground, unable to defend herself any further.

Not losing any more time, Bellatrix cast a dark curse Fenrir's way, getting him away from Alice just in time before he could make the final blow and kill Neville's mother.

"Cover me, Rodolphus," she yelled over her shoulder towards her husband, who had just emerged from the fireplace. She sprinted over towards Alice's side to try and save her life while Rodolphus shielded the two women from the attacking werewolves.

Just as the newly arrived Rabastan was about to run over and confront Greyback, Frank finally defeated his own werewolf and attacked the alpha, intending to avenge his wife. Not wanting to deny the head of the Longbottom family his retribution, Rabastan instead decided to help out my godfather and father, not having noticed that my mother, would have need his help more than them.

Greyback was ecstatic as he saw that his new opponent would be Frank Longbottom. "Don't worry, little sheep, I would have come after you too anyway," was all the werewolf said before he attacked the husband of the woman he had nearly killed moments ago.

As the fight continued, Lucius succeeded in injuring his opponent's left leg and Rabastan killed one of the three werewolves he was fighting against with James and Sirius. With two down and one of them killed, the werewolves were now outnumbered―five of them against seven wizards and witches who could still fight, as now Frank was also too injured to count as a serious opponent.

So, when finally Severus and Lord Slytherin arrived at the scene, it wasn't surprising when Greyback ordered, "Retreat! I finished what I came here for." Though that didn't stop Fenrir to claw once more at Frank, as well as the beta wolf having a final blow at my mother, who screamed out a loud cry of pain as her lower stomach was cut opened while she had been distracted by Greyback's order of retraction.

While the werewolves fled the scene, Severus and my father immediately ran over to where my mother was sitting on the floor, clutching her stomach, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. And what they saw when they finally reached her wasn't pretty at all. Severus was wondering how Lily was still conscious.

Not losing any time, the Potions master instantly started to cast healing charms and giving her potions to help with the healing process, as well as a Blood-Replenishing Potion. He dearly hoped that she would be all right.

With Lily being taken care of by Severus, Tom, the only one besides Snape and Bellatrix who knew advance healing spells, hurried towards Frank Longbottom. While he was in a better shape than his wife, he was still in danger of dying due to blood loss or internal bleeding. So, first he checked for any internal injuries. Finding that one of the man's lungs was punctured, Lord Slytherin cast a spell which would not heal the wound but at least would help Frank with breathing until Bellatrix or another healer could have a look at it.

Just as Sirius, Lucius and Rabastan re-entered the living room―the three men had run after the werewolves but had been unable to catch any more of them as they quickly Apparated away as soon as they were outside of the Anti-Apparition wards―Bellatrix had walked over to her beloved Lord.

"How is she faring?" Tom asked Bella about Alice, pointing his head in the direction of the injured witch.

"She is so gravely injured that I had to put her in a healing coma. It will take months before she'll be well enough to leave St Mungo's," was the healers honest evaluation of the woman's current situation.

"But she'll make it?" Frank asked in a raspy voice, having to know that Alice would be all right in the end.

"Yes, she should make it," Bella answered. And with a sigh of relief, Frank Longbottom closed his eyes. He was utterly exhausted from his own injuries and needed the rest.

"I better put him in a healing coma, too," Bellatrix Lestrange said after she cast her own very advanced diagnostic spell which had revealed that Frank, in addition to his punctured lung, also had a small bleeding in his brain. So, it was for the best to put him in a magical coma to prevent him from getting worse.

"Any luck with catching some of them?" Rodolphus asked his brother.

"No," Rabastan answered with a shake of his head.

"At least we still have the one I captured at the beginning," Lucius added his own two cents.

"The one Frank knocked out regrettably had gained conscious again just before they started to retreat. Though, it's obvious from Greyback's words that they came here to attack the Longbottoms because Frank had been able to cut of the right arm of his mate and he wanted to take revenge on them," the blond said.

"The fact that he could at the same time have a go at the rest of us, surely was a pretty little boon to him too," Sirius added. "Though, I wonder how he knew that Frank and Alice would be here today and not at their own home?" he wondered aloud.

"That is something I would love to know too," Lord Slytherin said.

"I'm sure that I can get something out of him," Lucius told them, kicking the stunned half-transformed werewolf he had captured.

"Lucius, Rabastan, take the prisoner to the dungeon in Slytherin Manor. James, Severus, Bellatrix and Rodolphus bring the injured to St Mungo's. I'll go to Malfoy Manor and inform Narcissa that everyone is still alive," Riddle divided the tasks. Purposefully making it so that he could check up on me in person.

"We'll all meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss what to do next," Lord Slytherin added, just before he left the room and flooed to Malfoy Manor.

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When Tom arrived, he was greeted by a rare sight. The stoic Malfoy matriarch was kneeling on the ground in front of the playpen, singing a song to calm Neville and Draco down, who were still a bit hysterical about the sudden werewolf attack.

I, on the other hand, had been calmly sitting in one corner of the playpen. That was until I noticed Tom standing behind the blonde woman. Then, I pushed myself up into a standing position with the help of the playpen's wooden bars and stared unblinking right into Tom's dark brown, nearly black, eyes. When he returned my look, I held out my arms in front of me and demanded, "Up!"

That didn't only make Tom chuckle in amusement, but also made Narcissa stop singing.

"My Lord," she greeted, when she noticed for the first time that she wasn't alone with us kids any longer.

"Narcissa," Lord Slytherin answered in turn, nodding his head towards her and stepping towards me to pick me up in his arms for the first time in my life.

"Everyone is still alive, but the Longbottoms and Lily had to be brought to St Mungo's because of their injuries," he informed her while he petted my hair and I listened to his calmly beating heart, enjoying the contact with his warm chest, as well as his attention.

"But, don't worry they'll live," he added, when he noticed Narcissa's face having paled at his news.

"Thank Merlin," the blonde said, relieved.

"Lucius should join us in an hour. He had to take care of one of the attackers first," he further informed Narcissa, still patting my black hair.

"Would you like to wait in the parlour for Lucius' arrival?" she asked her Lord, as he obviously intended to stay until her husband returned.

"Lead the way," was his answer. So, Narcissa picked up both her son and Neville and walked from the Floo room to the parlour. Tom following after her with me nearly asleep in his arms.

Once there, instead of putting me down in the parlour's playpen with Neville and Draco, Tom sat down in one of the armchairs with me in his lap, saying that he didn't want to wake me up by putting me down with the other two children.

"If I may ask, my Lord, why were you visiting Severus at Hogwarts?" Narcissa cautiously asked Riddle. While it was know that Lord Slytherin was good friends with Abraxas Malfoy and also his son Lucius, Narcissa wasn't as well acquainted on a personal level with her Lord. How Severus had been able to so easily gain Lord Slytherin's favour and thus, was allowed to speak freely with Tom Riddle, even she, with all her connections, didn't know.

"I've heard that Dumbledore had forbidden him to leave the grounds today to attend the Potter's party, so I thought I would keep him company instead. It's never nice if one has to spend the holidays all alone," Lord Slytherin answered, not giving away anything of importance.

"That's very generous of you," Narcissa answered, trying to find any hidden motives besides the obvious―checking up on what Albus Dumbledore was up to.

And Narcissa wasn't wrong in her belief that there was also another reason behind the visit. Though, even in a million years she wouldn't have guessed that his ulterior motive was in fact the special Hogwarts Halloween dinner, he secretly loved ever since his first year at Hogwarts.

Even though Tom Riddle was the ancestor of Salazar Slytherin and the current Lord Slytherin, the Hogwarts' house-elves strictly refused to give Tom, or even his house-elves, the recipes for their Halloween specialities. They said that the recipes belonged to Helga Hufflepuff and not to Hogwarts, thus Tom had no right to know the secret behind all the deserts and other heavenly things they cooked on the last day of October. So, if Tom wanted to eat Hogwarts' special Halloween food, he had no other choice but to go to the castle on Samhain.

But of course Lord Slytherin would never tell Narcissa that, so instead of further commenting on his reasons to why he'd been visiting Severus, Riddle took a sip of his black tea, forcing Narcissa to change the topic.

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"Drakky-poo, Harry-kins," Bellatrix's overly high voice suddenly interrupted my peaceful sleep half an hour after Tom had entered the parlour. "Don't be afraid anymore, your Aunty Bella is here," she yelled as she opened the parlour door.

She suddenly halted in her steps when she noticed that I was sitting in Tom's lap, cuddled up to his chest and was currently rubbing my tired eyes. It wasn't every day or even any day that Tom Riddle would allow a child to sit in his lap. And while she knew that I was only a little child, she couldn't help to still be jealous of me because she wanted to be the one to sit in her beloved Lord's lap and do something else than just innocently sleeping.

"Bellatrix," Tom scolded her for waking me up. While he gave her a nasty glare, he protectively also put his left arm around me, hugging me closer to his chest.

"I'm sorry, my Lord," she excused herself, giving Lord Slytherin a curtsy. "I was just so worried about my little nephews. Surely the half-transformed werewolves must have scarred them."

"Don't worry, Bellatrix. Little Harry has been sleeping peacefully the entire time," Tom assured. The ' _until you so rudely woke him up_ ' stayed unsaid but was obvious to all of the adults.

"So, Harry, would you like to continue sleeping," Tom asked me as Bella turned to fuss over Draco and Neville. She didn't want to anger Tom any more with fussing over me.

"No," I told him while shaking my head vehemently as every one year old would at the mentioning of a nap.

"Would you like to go and join Draco and Neville then?" Tom asked further, even if he would like nothing better than to keep me in his arms. Though, why he felt that way about me he didn't know. After all, it was only the first time today that we had properly met each other and I was just a child in his eyes right now, not a potential lover.

"No," I once again answered him. This time purposefully looking away from where Bella was nearly suffocating little Neville as she pressed him to her bosom. Even if I was only a little over a year old, I already hated Bellatrix's overbearing nature when she was in her mother-hen mode. Though, I still loved her special cookies with lots of Smarties in them. After all, they were the reason why she was my favourite aunt.

"And what would you like to do instead?" he finally asked me, not able to come up with any more alternatives.

"Way," I said, crossing my arms over my chest, already starting to pout.

Fortunately for me, Tom did interpret my words correctly. So, instead of asking me if I wanted to go away, he questioned, "You want to stay here?" To which I enthusiastically nodded my head in confirmation.

"As you wish, little one," Tom surrendered to my demand with a kiss on my head. Both of us were happy that we could stay just like we were for a little while longer.

"You're really good with children, my Lord," Narcissa commented a minute later after Tom had wandlessly and wordlessly conjured some soap-bubbles for me to play with. I was letting out a happy laugh every time I got a bubble to burst.

When nearly ten minutes later my father and Lucius Malfoy joined the six of us in the parlour, I was excitedly clapping my hands, demanding, "More, more!" as moments ago I had destroyed the last soap-bubble Tom had conjured.

"I see that my little man is having a lot of fun," my father said while he walked over towards where I was still sitting in Tom's lap. He was not only relieved to see that I was happy, but also that I felt very comfortable around my hopefully future husband, Tom.

Even when my father was ruffling my hair, I didn't stop my little chant of, "More, more!" as Tom still hadn't complied with my wishes.

"He is very easy to please," Tom said, just before he conjured some more soap-bubbles for me to play with.

"How is Lily?" Narcissa asked about my mother after Lucius had joined his wife on the loveseat and my father had sat down beside Lord Slytherin. For the moment James had decided to let me sit in Lord Slytherin's lap as Riddle obviously didn't mind having me sitting there, even if some of the bubble soap was wetting his expensive trousers.

"Under her circumstances, she is rather well. The potions Severus had given her had helped immensely with speeding up her recovery time. Her healer said that she should be free to leave in three to four days," my father answered. He purposefully withheld that while my mother would live, she most likely wouldn't be able to have any more children because of the deep stomach wound. But this wasn't something you shared with non-family members.

"I'm glad to hear this. Do you know how the Longbottoms are doing?" she questioned further.

"The healer in charge had said that without your sister both of them would have been dead. If Bellatrix hadn't immediately started to treat Alice when she arrived at our home, she would have died while we were still busy fighting against the werewolves. And even if Alice could have been brought to St Mungo's at that time, not many healers there would have been able to save her," James explained Bella's heroic deed.

Bellatrix was too busy dotting over Draco and Neville to really listen to the others' conversation, but when Tom praised, "Yes, Bellatrix really is an extraordinary talented healer," she turned away from my two friends to look at him.

"You flatter me, my Lord," she tried to play down her worth. Though, on the inside she was very happy for Tom to praise her like that. It would take another year or two until she would be able to get over her crush on Tom and could fall in love with her husband.

"And you are too modest," Tom answered. After all, it was her and not him who noticed that Frank Longbottom had acquired a brain injury. That comment made Bellatrix blush while I laughed as another soap-bubble was destroyed.

"Oh, before I forget," my father began. "I've already contacted Augusta Longbottom about what happened to her son and daughter-in-law. She said that she'll be here shortly to pick up Neville."

"I'm sure that Neville will be happy to be back in his own home," Narcissa said. Opposed to me, Neville didn't seem to be overly comfortable when he was visiting the Malfoys, or anyone else for the matter, when he couldn't see his parents. It would be good for him to at least sleep in his own bed when he would be separated from his parents for a while.

"Speaking of home, I've offered James that he and his family could stay here until their house is repaired," Lucius informed his wife. He had already asked my father if he wanted to stay when they'd been walking together towards the parlour.

 _Why didn't I think of this,_ Tom scolded himself when he heard the offer. It would have been the perfect opportunity for him to get to know me a bit better, even if I was just one year old at that time.

"Did you hear, my little dragon?" Narcissa asked her son. "Harry will be staying with us for the next days, so you can play all day long."

That made Draco stop playing with Neville, Bellatrix and his dragon toys in the playpen and demand "Up". Bellatrix, of course, complied with his wish and took him in her arms so that she could carry him over to his parents while she sat down with Neville in her lap in the armchair next to her sister as we all waited for Neville to be picked up by his grandmother.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When my father and Narcissa were getting me and Draco ready for the night, Lucius and Tom were discussing in the study what the blond had been able to get out of their prisoner.

"The rogue werewolf told me that Peter Pettigrew had been the one to inform Greyback about the Potter's Halloween party and who would be there," Lucius reported.

"Apparently some days ago, while Pettigrew was out in the woods to collect some potion ingredients as a part of his job for an apothecary, the little rat ran into Greyback and two of his pack members. To save his own useless hide, he told them that the Potter's Halloween party would be a good opportunity for Greyback to get revenge, as not only the Longbottoms but also James and I would be there," the blond elaborated.

"And where is Pettigrew now?" Tom asked in a cold voice. He knew that Peter was one of my father's closest friends from his time at Hogwarts and it was beyond his comprehension why such a _good_ friend would do such a thing. If he had been able to escape, he could at least have warned his friends of the impending attack.

"The werewolf told us that Greyback let him go after he threatened him to secrecy," Lucius answered. "Both Lestranges are already searching for him as we speak."

"Good," Tom said. "Inform me immediately if he is found. I will punish him for his betrayal myself," he said before he left the room to return to Slytherin Manor.

 _Oh, the little rat would pay for endangering my Harry,_ was his last thought before Tom let sleep claim him that night.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Nearly a week later, the Lestranges had finally been able to track down Peter Pettigrew. As it turned out, he had been hiding in the cellar of Honeydukes in his rat Animagus form, eating sweets to his heart's content.

"Hello, Peter," Lord Slytherin greeted as he entered the cell the Animagus was currently in.

"M-my Lord," the man answered with an unsteady voice, fearful of what was to come.

"I've heard that you're the reason why the Potters and their guests have been attacked by Fenrir Greyback and his pack," Tom began.

"I-it was-wasn't on purpose, m-my Lord. Th-they would have killed m-me, if I hadn't told th-them about the p-party," he stammered out, trying to save his life.

"I also heard of that, Peter. And since I'm a very forgiving lord, I've decided to let you get away with only a light punishment as no one was killed by your actions," Tom Riddle said, purposefully playing with Pettigrew's emotions.

"You are too generous, my Lord," Peter immediately said, relief clearly written on his face as he bowed in front of Lord Slytherin, even going so far as to kiss Riddle's boots. The house-elves would have to clean them before Tom would even think of wearing them again.

"Are you ready to accept the punishment I chose for you?" Tom asked.

"Y-yes, my Lord. Wha-whatever you believe I de-deserve," Pettigrew stammered once more, fearful of the pain he would surely feel soon.

"I'm glad to hear that, Peter," Lord Slytherin said with a smile as he took out a sharp knife. "But don't worry, instead of being sentenced to death because of treachery, you'll only have to cut off your left little finger as retribution," Tom said as he held out the knife to Peter.

Lord Slytherin wasn't worried at all to hand over a weapon to a prisoner. First, because he was perfectly capable to defend himself against the knife. And Second, because the knife was charmed so that you could only cut off fingers with it. If you intend to use it for any other purposes, be it to kill yourself or slit open someone else's throat, the knife would be as dull as a toothbrush.

"M-my Lord?" Peter asked disbelievingly, not taking the knife from his Lord. He couldn't believe what Riddle had just said. He had to cut off his own finger?

"I don't have all day, Peter," Tom said when Pettigrew didn't make any move to grab the knife from him. "I'm sure that you don't want to be in here longer than necessary, do you?" Lord Slytherin asked in encouragement.

"N-no, my Lord," he answered, hesitantly taking the knife into his right hand.

After about two minutes, Pettigrew had finally been able to talk himself into cutting off his own finger. _You'll be free soon,_ was his favourite mantra. But, just as he was about to make the cut, Tom stopped him.

"No, Peter. Not just the first two knuckles," he reprimanded him. "You have to cut off the whole finger."

It took Peter Pettigrew nearly four minutes after Riddle's comment to bring himself to finally completely cut off his little finger.

"Well done, Peter," Lord Slytherin mockingly congratulated. "You can keep the knife as you'll need it again tomorrow," were Riddle's last words before he exited the cell, letting the traitor finally come to the realisation that he wouldn't leave his prison any time soon.

Once outside of Pettigrew's hearing range, he ordered, "Lucius, make sure that he cuts off one finger each day. If he doesn't do it himself, then put him under the Imperius Curse. I'll be back when it's time for him to start on his right hand."

"As you wish, my Lord," the blond answered with a nod of his head.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

As promised, Lord Slytherin came back after five days to visit the prisoner. Like he had expected, after the first day Pettigrew didn't cut off his fingers on his own any longer, so Lucius had to put him under the Imperius Curse for the task.

Peter was happy to see his Lord once again in his cell. Surely this had to mean that they would finally let him go. _With my fingerless left hand they won't be able to_ _make me cut off the fingers on my right hand simply because I can't_ _hold the knife to cut off the fingers on my right hand, right?_ Peter argued. _Except, if they also want me to cut off my toes. But surely they would have started with my toes first before cutting off my fingers? No, Lord Slytherin visiting me in my cell can only mean one thing; I will finally be free,_ Peter thought hopefully.

Tom loved the hopeful and eager look on Peter's face. _Oh, yes torturing him will be fun,_ he thought gleefully.

"Peter, I come to you because I have a gift for you," he said, before he pulled out his wand and cast a spell which gave Pettigrew artificial silver fingers as a replacement for his lost ones.

"You are so gracious, my Lord," Peter said with tears in his eyes when he saw his new fingers, watching them move with awe.

"I'm glad that you like them," was all Riddle said before he let the door close behind him. This time Lucius wouldn't need to Imperio Pettigrew as the artificial fingers would grab the knife of their own accord and cut off one of Pettigrew's right fingers per day.

"Lucius, tell your sister-in-law that she can torture the traitor in five days to her heart's content," Lord Slytherin said.

While Bellatrix was a healer and normally worked hard to save lives, she really wanted to get back at the rat for endangering her little nephews and her other family members, like Sirius and Narcissa. And, as a Black, she was very, very good at torture.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to hear this," was the blond's answer. He really would enjoy watching the show Bellatrix would give him.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

All in all, the thirty-first of October in nineteen-eighty-one really was a day of great importance for many people in my life.

For Neville, it was the day he had nearly lost his parents. But, thanks to Bellatrix Lestrange they only had to stay in St Mungo's for a long while.

For his parents, it was the day they lost one month―or in Alice's case, nearly four months―with their son because they were placed in healing comas.

For Peter Pettigrew, it was the day he betrayed his friends, thus digging his own grave. While the rest of the world thought that he went missing, only Lucius, the Lestranges and Tom knew the truth.

For my parents, it was the day they lost any chance of having another child, as Greyback's beta had wounded my mother in a way where she could no longer conceive.

For Draco, it was the day when the two of us had our first sleep-over party which lasted a whole week. We both had a lot of fun that week, even though our parents scolded us when we decided to climb out of the bed we shared in the middle of the night on the second day of our sleep-over.

And for me and Tom, it was the first time we really interacted with each other.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** So, how do you like it that while Bellatrix is still the reason why the Longbottoms ended up in St Mungo's, it was because she saved them instead of torturing them like in canon? Tell me what you think as I would love to hear your opinion.

Also, I've started a **poll on my profile page** where you can vote into which house Harry should be sorted.

 **Next:** Harry has his Elencho Foreas and meets Tom again.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** A child in discomfort/pain

**AN:** Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! And you still have about three chapters left to vote on my profile page for the house Harry should be sorted into.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 3 -~-~-**

The thirty-first of July in 1987―the day of my seventh birthday―happened to be a Friday. Thus, while my father would have loved to schedule my Elencho Foreas for the next day, he was forced to wait until Monday, the third of August, to find out whether or not I was a Foreas and whether or not I would be the future consort of Lord Slytherin or became the Potter heir.

At that time I had been happy that I wouldn't have to get tested on the day after my birthday as I hadn't exactly been looking forward to the Elencho Foreas. It was not because my seven year old self already knew that the outcome of the test would decide the direction the rest of my life would take. No, I dreaded the test because during my birthday party on Friday I and Neville had asked Draco about his own Elencho Foreas and what the young Malfoy heir had told us hadn't sounded very nice to us.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Come on, Draco, tell us how it went," I prompted my blond best friend, who had already undertaken the test two months ago.

Over the last six years the dynamic between Draco, Neville and I had changed. While we three were still good friends, I and Draco weren't as close to Neville as we were to each other. The reason for this change wasn't that we didn't like Neville any longer, it was just that I and Draco shared the same interests: playing Quidditch and visiting zoos―both Muggle and magical ones, while Neville liked to spend his time in the greenhouse with his plants or read fairy tales. So, I and Draco spent more time together in the last years and thus had become even closer. Our mothers even said that we were inseparable.

"Please tell us about it," Neville added his own plea when Draco didn't answer my question right away. The young Longbottom was as curious and anxious as I was about his impending Elencho Foreas. He had been very lucky that the Wolfsboon Greyback had taken so many years ago had been brewed incorrectly or otherwise the werewolf would have infected both of his parents with lycanthropy.

Nervously Draco looked around the room, searching for his parents. When he saw that they weren't anywhere within hearing range, he started to whisper, "Okay, I'll tell you about it. But you must promised me that you'll tell no one― _no one_ ," he emphasised, "what I'm about to tell you," he finally yielded to our prompting, behaving like he would be telling us something as important and secretive as how you could successfully steel the British crown jewels in ten seconds.

After both Neville and I nodded in agreement to his condition, Draco finally started to tell us about his test after another look towards his parents. "The beginning was just like any other visit to a Healer. I just walked in and hoped on the examination table and then the Healer cast some diagnostic charms. These usual charms where followed by a spell which the Healer called the Foreas testing spell. It emitted a black glow, meaning that I wasn't a Foreas. Afterwards," here Draco paused for effect, holding up his right index finger to underline that what would come next would be very important and that we should pay attention to it as the blond wouldn't repeat it again.

"Afterwards," he continued, "the Healer asked me to take of my cloak, trousers and underwear and to lie down on my back," the blond told us as I wondered why he had to undress. After all, normally nothing more than the cloak was taken off if you went to an examination, expect maybe you had a wound on one of your legs then you also would take off the trousers, but never your underwear. So, I was very suspicious and curious about what would come next.

What the blond told us next was whispered in an even lower voice due to his embarrassment so I and and Neville had to practically put our ears to Draco's lips to hear what he said. "Then," he began as a shudder ran through his body in remembrance of the event, "then he put a finger into my botty. It was really, really uncomfortable and hurt a lot, especially since he has really big fingers," my best friend complained shuddering once more.

That statement made me and Neville become very afraid about our own tests. _Even if Draco usually is rather sensitive to pain, the fact that he was shuddering twice must mean that it really hurt,_ I thought, knowing my best friend well enough to know when he was behaving like a pansy and when he was in serious pain. And him shuddering always meant that it had really been hurting and he wasn't just exaggerating like he loved to do to get some extra sweets from his mother.

"I, of course, complained to my father why the Healer would do something as plebeian and Muggle as putting a finger in there as the spell he'd cast before had already revealed that I'm not a Foreas," the blond said in his Malfoys are fare above Muggle methods voice, once again behaving like the spoiled brat he was.

"But, he just said to shut my mouth and to stop complaining as this was how it was done," the spoiled child complained. He was still angry with his father about that episode. After all Draco was his son and thus Draco thought that his father should do everything he asked him to do.

"If you asked me, that Healer should have been fired if he isn't sure enough about his own spellwork and has to rely on Muggle methods for reassurance," my best friend said, to which I and Neville nodded our heads in agreement.

_Though there must have been a reason why Mr Malfoy, who usually did everything Draco asked him to do, for once told his beloved son to shut up and bear the pain,_ I thought wondering about the unusual behaviour of the Malfoy patriarch.

Only years later, during my time at Hogwarts, would I find out the reason behind the combination of the magical and manual tests. In the old days, the young wizard's Foreas status had only been tested the manual way but after the invention of the Foreas testing spell in 1698, that method had been abandoned. But not even a century later did the wizarding world realise that one test alone wouldn't suffice.

The eye-opening case had been about two identical twins, where the Foreas testing spell surprisingly revealed that only one of them was a Foreas, something which had never happened before. Though the boys' Healer had simply dismissed it as a case of nature playing around when, even at the age of thirteen, the spell's result hadn't changed.

However, the wizarding world received a big wake-up call when at thirty-three, the non-Foreas twin was hospitalised. It turned out that while he magically wasn't able to bear children, his body still had created the opening in his anus a Foreas had and the wizard's Foreas opening had gotten infected sometime after he started to have an affair with another man.

A Healer, who some years later became the first Healer in charge of the newly founded Elencho Foreas department of St Mungo's, had suggested that the twin who the testing spell had revealed to be a Foreas should be tested with the old manual method. As it turned out, his assumption that one of the twins had only gotten the necessary body parts to bear children while the other only had the magical ability to conceive and bring a child to terms had been right.

With this new discovery he could explain why some wizards, even if according to one of the testing methods were a Foreas, hadn't been able to get pregnant as it had been the case with the Foreas labelled twin. So, from that time onwards, the Elencho Foreas always included both testing methods as one needed to be a Foreas in body and magic to get pregnant.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When the Monday morning of my Elencho Foreas finally came around, my father Apparated the two of us with mixed feelings to St Mungo's. Seven years ago he argued that if I was a Foreas and would marry Lord Slytherin, he would have another child who would become the Potter heir in my stead. Now though, he knew that my mother was unable to conceive again because the wound to her lower stomach, which she had received by Greyback's beta nearly six years ago, turned out to be more severe than the healers had first thought. Thus, he now hoped and dreaded that the outcome of my Elencho Foreas would be that I was a Foreas as he would only ever get either an heir to the Potter family or be the father of Lord Slytherin's consort.

After we arrived on the second floor where the Magical Bugs and Diseases ward was located, we walked to the end of the west wing. There, the small Elencho Foreas office and examination room had been set up in 1786.

"Good morning, Mr Potter," my father was greeted by the middle aged receptionist. "If you and your son would please wait for another minute or two, Healer Scribner is still attending to the Longbottoms," he informed us and pointed towards a couch in the corner of the office.

Five minutes later Healer Scribner finally entered the office with Neville and his father Frank in tow. After all of us exchanged greetings, Healer Scribner asked, "If you would please follow me into the examination room."

After taking a look at my papers, the Healer said, "Please sit down on the examination table, Harry," reading off my name from the top of the papers.

With an encouraging nod from my father, I hoped up on the table and waited anxiously for further instructions or for the Healer to simply start casting diagnostic spells like he had done with Draco.

Without another word the Healer cast some standard diagnostic spells, checking if I was healthy and that my parents weren't abusing me―not that magical parents in general were hurting their children as family was very important in the wizarding world. But, since the children were already there, the Ministry of Magic had decided that it would be a good opportunity to check up on the children.

"A healthy little boy you have, Mr Potter," Healer Scribner commented on the spell's results. "Let's find out if he is a Foreas," was all he said before he―to my great relief―began the Elencho Foreas with the magical test I was comfortable with instead of the manual one I was afraid about.

"Ah, it seems like we have a little Foreas in the making," the Healer told my father moments later when a bright green light came to live around the area of my stomach.

I didn't care that I seemingly was a Foreas. _After all, it wouldn't make a difference, would it?_ I asked myself. _After Draco's own test nothing had changed and Neville also looked the same when I met him in the office,_ I thought, not seeing what some of the adults had been so exited about when I overheard them talking about the Elencho Foreas.

_Being a Foreas won't make me a different person. It's just a way to emphasize a special ability I seemed to possess, like they started to call cousin Nymphadora a Metamorphmagus after they found out that she could change her hair colour at a whim when she was five. That didn't mean that she suddenly had become a totally different person,_ I remembered the explanation uncle Sirius had given me when I asked him what a Foreas was two weeks ago. Though, he had expertly avoided to specify what the special ability of a Foreas was, only telling me that I wasn't old enough to understand it just now.

"If you would please take off your pants and underwear, Harry, we can see if the manual test also comes to the same result," Healer Scribner asked.

That was the part I was afraid of after Draco's story three days ago. _Why couldn't they just stop the testing after the spell revealed that I'm a Foreas?_ I thought in the privacy of my mind, not wanting to voice my complaint out loud as my father surely would scold me for my bad manners. After all, I had already told him that I didn't want someone to put his finger in my botty, but he had told me exactly the same thing Draco's father had told him. And while he didn't word it as harshly as Mr Malfoy, in the end, they both had meant the same thing, that we boys should shut our mouths and stop complaining as this was how it was done.

At least I had been able to talk him into taking me to Fortescue's for an extra big helping of ice cream afterwards if I would behave. So, without a word of protest, I still very hesitantly started to disrobe from the waist downwards, so that the Healer could probe my anus.

By the time I was finally finished with undressing, Healer Scribner had already put a rubber glove on his right hand and held a bottle of lube in his left.

"Please lie down on your back and then pull your legs towards your chest, Harry," he asked me in a friendly voice as he stepped towards the examination table. Putting down the bottle of lube at the end of the table, he scooped up some lube on his right index and middle finger, before he moved them towards my entrance.

I really hated to be in this exposing position. Not only because my parents had always told me that my private parts were just that, private, but also because I already knew that what would come next wouldn't be very comfortable at all.

I looked away from the celling towards my father for encouragement. But instead of the smiling face I expected which would have given me a boost of new courage, I only saw a worried expression which frightened me even more, as at that time I didn't know that my father was anxious about the outcome of the manual test after the magical one revealed me to be a Foreas in magic. It would be really irksome if the second test wouldn't confirm my Foreas status, now that he was so close to securing my engagement to Lord Slytherin, even if it meant that he lose his Potter heir.

As I started to nervously chew on my lips, Healer Scribner covered the area around my pucker hole with plentiful of lube, only circling the opening, never entering it, before he scooped up some more and then finally, slowly put his index finger into my ass.

I stopped nibbling my by now abused lips to cringe in discomfort. _Draco was right,_ I thought as I was overcome with the unfamiliar feeling of being filled to the fullest. The fact that the hand of the Healer was about two sizes bigger than my own wasn't helping either. _Why couldn't our mothers with their slender hands do it?_ I repeated the same thing Draco had complained about during my birthday party after Neville had left and we were alone together as my best friend for some unknown reason didn't had wanted to talk more about his Elencho Foreas in front of Neville.

"Hold still, Harry. It will be over soon," Healer Scribner tried to encourage me, as I tried to motivate myself with the promise of the big ice cream I would soon get for lunch. "Ah, here is your prostate," he said seconds later when I felt him touching something inside of me that seemed to be very sensitive. "The Foreas opening should be just above it," he went on, twisting his finger around in my tight hole to search for the little channel that led to a small bubble. The bubble functioned as a substitution for the female uterus and would grow with the help of my magic after I successfully conceived, so that a healthy baby could develop inside of my body.

"Ahh," I cried out in pain when the Healer's big index finger tried to enter the Foreas opening, which was even tighter then my anus. Uncaring of the tears which were filling my green eyes, Healer Scribner used his left hand to push my legs back into place after I led them fall down due to the pain I'd felt seconds ago.

When I looked with pleading, watery eyes to my father, hoping that he would tell the Healer to stop hurting me, I saw that while he seems obviously concerned that I was in so much pain and would like nothing better than to relieve me of it, he was still resolve to see it through to the end. "Daddy," I whimpered painfully in a low voice as the Healer pushed in the tip of his finger into my Foreas opening to see if it was closed up and needed to be opened with an operation.

"It's okay, Harry," he told me in a soothing voice. "The Healer will be done soon and then we will go to Fortescue's like I promised you," he told me just as Healer Scribner finally started to retract his finger from my hurting ass hole.

"Congratulations, Mr Potter. Your son is a healthy Foreas," he informed my father while he was disposing the rubber glove.

_Draco had lied. It really hurts a lot more than he told me it would_ , I thought sobbing. I didn't know at that time that my pain had been worse than Draco's because, opposed to me, the blond boy hadn't a tight Foreas opening so the Healer hadn't had to push his finger further.

"You can get dressed now, Harry," Healer Scribner absently told me while he was busy getting something from a cabinet.

Gingerly I sat up on the examination table, letting my legs hang down from the edge of the table. I cringed when I noticed that sitting hurt my abused ass, so I slowly lowered my body towards the ground to take the weight away from my butt. After rubbing the tears from my face, I started to redress, biting my lips in pain whenever I needed to lean down to re-tie my shoes or get my socks on.

When I was finally dressed again, Healer Scribner handed me a piece of Honeydukes finest chocolate as an apology while he gave my father a piece of paper which confirmed my Foreas status.

"Come on, Harry. Let's go to Fortescue's," my father suggested after he exchanged goodbyes with Healer Scribner.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

While Tom was certain that the result of my Elencho Foreas could only be that the healer would confirm that I was a Foreas, it was still nice to have the fact in writing in front of him. So, with a self-satisfied smirk Lord Slytherin took notice of the letter Healer Scribner had owled him right after my test was over.

_**~Dear Lord Slytherin,** _

_**Hereby I sent you the results of today's Elencho Foreas.** _

_**Neville Longbottom, 30.07.1980: no Foreas** _

_**Harry James Potter, 31.07.1980: Foreas** _

_**Yours faithfully,** _

_**Marc Scribner** _

_**Healer in charge of the Elencho Foreas~** _

_And Severus really believed that Longbottom was the prophesied child,_ Tom thought, amused. _Oh, how much fun I'll have when I tell him that only Harry turned out to be a Foreas. And how convenient it is that Severus doesn't have to be at Hogwarts until the twenty-fourth, so he'll have no choice but to attend Saturday's dinner which I'll hold in celebration of Harry being a Foreas,_ Lord Slytherin planned his amusement at the Potions master's expense.

_Though, I better also invite Lucius and his family to the dinner, least he will once again sulk for a week because I showed a preference for James Potter,_ Tom adjusted his plans. _Besides, James had told me that Harry and the Malfoy brat are good friends and I'm sure Harry will be happy that someone of his own age will also be there._

_Maybe I also should invite the Longbottoms?_ Riddle contemplated. _I believe that James had mentioned that his son also often plays with their child. And if I also invite them, it will not only prevent any rumours from starting up that I only invited James and his family because his_ _son was a rare Foreas, but also it would make rubbing into Severus' face that he had bet on the wrong boy even sweeter_ , he thought evilly.

And with a smile on his face, he started to write the invitations for the dinner he would be holding in five days, adding a sincere congratulation for their son being a Foreas to the Potter family's invitation.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And that was how it was irrevocably decided on a sunny Monday morning in August what path my life would take as my Foreas status was indisputably put in writing. As a Foreas, I would become the consort of Lord Slytherin after I graduated from Hogwarts, no matter whether by then I would want to marry him or if I would even be gay.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** I hope that you liked the short look into Tom's thoughts. An in deep look into Harry's thoughts of being a Foreas will come with the next chapter.

**Next:** Harry and Tom meet at the dinner party and the dark side of being a Foreas will be revealed.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , _"_ _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** branding a child (similar to the Dark Mark)

**AN:** A chapter which shows why I call this story/arc dark. Though, I still hope that you enjoy it anyway as it also has some fluff. And sorry for the delay real life went from merely busy to utterly horrible this month.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 4 -~-~-**

While as a teenager I thought that society labelling a wizard as something inferior and less manly only because he had the ability to bear children was the worst thing about being a Foreas, at the age of seven the old fashioned branding custom was the thing I'd hated the most about my Foreas status.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

As it happened, the wizarding world was still very old fashioned. So, even if it was already the late twentieth-century, women were still legally seen as the property of their husbands, or if they were still unmarried, the property of their fathers. And even older than that non-sense was the tradition of branding your little girls and young wives in a Claiming Ceremony.

During this ceremony, the 'owner' of the female would cast a spell which would brand his family crest into the wife's or daughter's body to state his claim. If the branding did more than just burning an ugly mark into the females, like provide protection from rape, then I may have been able to overlook the pain all young girls went through between the ages of seven and nine when they were marked as their fathers' 'possession' and once again branded some years later by their husbands when the 'ownership' was transferred.

But as this wasn't the case, I really, really hated it, especially since not only girls were branded but also Foreas as in the eyes of the Wizengamot, every magical person who can bear children is nothing more than the property of their fathers or husbands. They didn't even care that, while a Foreas could bear children, their penises still functioned like any other male's and thus, they could as easily impregnate a woman as they could get knocked up themselves.

Some younger daughters from traditionalist families had foolhardily thought that they could avoid the second branding from their husbands if they married a Muggle-born or some other wizard who was against the Claiming Ceremony. But, what they had forgotten to take into consideration was that if their husbands didn't mark them too, they would legally still belong to their fathers because they only had his mark of ownership on them. Thus, while most of the Muggle-born wizards didn't want to mark their loved ones, they still did it in order to get their wives away from the influence of their old-fashioned families.

At times I was jealous of the Muggle-borns. As their fathers, as Muggles, haven't marked them when they were young there was no need for their husbands to perform the Claiming Ceremony. So, as long as they didn't marry any of the old-fashioned traditionalists, they would never get branded as the 'owner' was the one to decide whether or not he wanted to brand his 'possession'.

Though, even while my mother was a Muggle-born witch and my father wasn't a big fan of the old fashioned branding custom, she still had ended up getting the Potter crest branded just above her left breast. The reason behind the unwanted mark of ownership my mother spotted was my paternal grandfather. While he did allow my father to marry a Muggle-born, as he had seen that she was a brilliant witch, he still had insisted on the Claiming Ceremony or otherwise he wouldn't acknowledge the marriage between them.

As he didn't want to lose his inheritance, my father had in the end bowed to the demands of my grandfather and had gone against his own wishes and branded my mother. Though, at least he had been able to postpone the Claiming Ceremony to a week after the actual wedding day instead of right after the marriage ceremony so that they could at least enjoy their wedding night in peace without all the pain the branding would involve.

Even though as the best men Sirius and Severus had been invited to my mother's Claiming Ceremony, together with the families of the newly-weds, they had both declined the invitation out of respect for Lily and to show that they were against such a barbaric tradition. Thus, Severus was very surprised when he received the following letter from my father two days after the Foreas congratulation dinner at Slytherin Manor.

**Monday, 11th August 1987**

_**~Dear Severus,** _

_**hereby I invite you, as Harry James Potter's godfather, to attend my son's Claiming Ceremony on August, 16th.** _

_**With kind regards,** _

_**James Potter,** _

_**Head of the Potter House~** _

Severus didn't know what to think about this invitation. After all, while he and my father disagreed on many things, the Potions master had thought that after their agreement over Lily's own branding that they at least shared the same opinion on the Claiming Ceremony.

_Potter must have spoken about it with Riddle during last weeks dinner and our Lord must have insisted on the branding,_ he wrongly assumed as he tried to find a reason why my father would out of the blue change his mind about the Claiming Ceremony.

But even I would only learn years later that during that private talk between my father and Tom it was not my branding that had been discussed, but instead Tom simply informed my father that I would get my second lightening bolt earring at eleven instead of seven and that he will keep our engagement a secret for some more years.

_How typical for Potter,_ Severus thought bitterly, before he walked into his personal Potions lab to start brewing a healing potion which would lessen the pain after the branding. _First, he can't even stand up to his own father when it came to spare Lily the pain and now, he's going to brand his own son too? What a pitiful excuse of a wizard,_ was his last thought before he shut the door to his lab.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 16th August 1987**

_Uncle Sirius was wrong,_ I bitterly thought as I was getting ready for the impending Claiming Ceremony. _He lied when he told me that nothing would change if I became a Foreas_ , I thought, angrily stomping my foot on the carpeted floor of my room.

_And to think that at first I'd thought that being a Foreas was something great when Lord Slytherin had invited my family to dinner a week ago in honour of my discovered Foreas status,_ I chided myself for my nativity as I buttoned the white, sleeveless dress shirt my mother had laid out for me to wear for the ceremony.

_Maybe I should have tried to write to Lord Slytherin and asked him to help me get out of the whole Claiming Ceremony?_ I wondered, remembering how Lord Slytherin had told me that if something troubled me I could always go to him for help. _But surely our Lord has better things to do then to cancel my imminent branding, especially since I'm not the first one to receive such a mark,_ my seven year old mind reasoned.

_If all the girls can bear the pain then I certainly can do it too,_ I tried to motivate myself as I buttoned the last button of my dress shirt. After a last look into the mirror to see if I looked presentable enough, I left my room having decided that, opposed to last Saturday's dinner with Tom, I didn't need my hair to look perfect for the damned ceremony.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Flashback, Saturday 8th August 1987**

"Come on, sweetheart," I heard my mother calling up the stairs for me to hurry up as we were becoming pressed for time for the dinner Lord Slytherin had invited us to.

I was so exited to finally meet Tom again. While my father spent time with our Lord nearly every day, I only saw him occasionally and from afar when he was talking to my father in our house's study or when I and mum were picking my father up from work. As far as I knew, the last time I had personally spoken with Lord Slytherin was when I was fifteen months old and couldn't say much more than "up".

So, in honour of being invited to a personal lunch with the Lord I admired, I was currently very busy to get my hair straightened out so that it wouldn't he bird's nest it so usually did. Though, I wasn't being very successful in my task of taming my wild hair, thus my mother telling me to come down already.

"I'll be right there," I yelled down the stairs as I made the finishing touches to my hair, having decided that I wouldn't get it any better even if I would spend another hour on it.

_Maybe Draco can try to tame it?_ I thought, remembering that my blond best friend had also been invited to the dinner as I walked down the stairs to my waiting parents.

"Are you exited to meet our Lord?" my father asked me while he put a strand of my black hair behind my left ear so that the lightening bolt earring would be on display.

"Yes, dad," I answered truthfully, full of enthusiasm. After all it wasn't every day that one got to meet his personal hero.

My father chuckled about my eagerness as he held out the pot of Floo powder to me.

As I was known to stumble out of the Floo, my father went to Slytherin Manor first before I would follow with my mother in tow.

"Slytherin Manor, Entrance Hall" I called out as clearly as I could with one of my front teeth missing. The tooth had fallen out two days after my Elencho Foreas. Stepping into the cold green flames, I felt how my body was flung around before it was thrown out of another fireplace halfway across the country.

I wasn't surprised when I fell down on the floor. What surprised me though was that my father was nowhere in sight. Instead I was greeted by yellow eyes staring at me from the rug in front of the fireplace.

Afraid that the angry and very venomous snake of Lord Slytherin would try to bite me, I rolled to the left. At least I now knew that I must have ended up somewhere in Slytherin Manor opposed to Merlin knows who.

" _How dare you to begrime me with sooth?!_ " the owner of the yellow eyes hissed at me angrily. In my fear of the creature I didn't even register that I had understood what the snake said.

Having heard that Lord Slytherin's snake was very intelligent I tried to placate the angry reptile. _"I'm sorry,"_ I said unconsciously speaking in Parseltongue as I bowed my head in submission to the snake.

Surprised that someone else beside her master and her master's mother was able to speak in her tongue, Nagini straightened her upper body up so that her head was on the same height as my own. Staring with her yellow eyes into my fearful green ones as I thought she was about to lash out, she asked curious, _"You're a speaker, little one?"_

" _I'm sorry, but I don't speak Parseltongue."_ I hissed back automatically without thinking. Only belatedly did I realise that I had even understood what the snake had said. But before I could further think about this, my thoughts were interrupted by a chuckle coming from somewhere behind me.

Turning around I was met by a rare sight. Leaning against the door frame stood non-other than a smiling Lord Slytherin, his eyes shining full of merriment.

"And who has taught you how to say 'I don't speak Parseltongue' in Parseltongue?" Lord Slytherin asked me in amusement as he calmly walked towards me.

As I only moments ago had realised that I could understand Nagini, I was still in shock about the new discovery and thus didn't answer his question. The fact that I was alone in the room with Lord Slytherin didn't help calm my nervousness either.

Tom didn't seem bothered by my lack of answer though as he knelt down next to me. _"Don't worry, Harry. For most Parselmouths, Parseltongue sounds just like English. It takes time to notice the underlying hissing noise,"_ he whispered into my ear, making me shiver at his sudden and unexpected closeness.

While today I had been very excited to spend some time close to my idol, I would never have thought that we would be so close and that I would have his undivided attention. I had hoped for a handshake in greeting at best before he would turn his attention back to the invited adults.

After leaning away from my ear, he continued speaking. _"But at least it saved you from being attacked by Nagini,"_ he said while ruffling my hair that I had spent thirty futile minutes to tame. But at that moment, I didn't care at all that Tom ruined all my hard work.

Looking at the mentioned snake, I was surprised to see that she was suddenly closer than before. I hadn't even notice how Nagini had moved closer towards I and Tom, curious about what he had been whispering into my ear. Though, with her master right next to me I wasn't afraid anymore. And since I didn't fear that she would charge at me any moment, I could now appreciate her beautiful green scales.

" _Beautiful,_ " I said out loud, unconsciously slipping into Parseltongue once again as I had been looking at the snake.

" _Thank you, little speaker,_ " Nagini answered.

" _I'm sure that Nagini would allow you to pet her,"_ Lord Slytherin said. Unlike me, he did not need to look in Nagini's direction to slip into Parseltongue. And, as if commanded, his snake moved even closer to the two of us and laid down her head in Tom's lap, so that I could easily stroke her.

Gingerly, I moved my hand towards the area right behind Nagini's head. While I was secure that Tom would prevent her from attacking me, I still didn't want to risk agitating her. _"It's_ _very smooth,"_ I said, surprised. With how shiny her skin was, I had wrongly assumed that it would be all slimy.

" _How about we keep your Parseltongue ability our little secret? Just between the two of us_ ," Tom suggested after some moments.

_My own secret with Lord Slytherin?_ I didn't even need to think about it as I immediately excitedly nodded with my head in agreement and called out, "Yes." After all, at the age of seven, secrets were still one of the greatest things, only second to brooms and Quidditch. It was even more special since I would share it with Lord Slytherin.

In my excitement I didn't even register that Nagini hissed out an angry " _THREE_ " while I had been calling out my joyful agreement.

"Pinky promise on it," I demanded, holding out my little finger for Tom to shake, not thinking about propriety in my current state of utter excitement and happiness.

Smiling over my childish antics, Tom obediently held out his own little finger for me to shake.

We both said the obligatory, "Pinky promise" swear while we shook fingers.

"I'm sure that your parents are already worried about where you are," Tom told me as he stood up from his kneeling position and Nagini returned to her cosy place in front of the fireplace.

"Let's go, Harry," he said, holding out his hand for me to take.

Happily, I took the offered hand, saying " _Bye, bye, Nagini,_ " to the green snake in farewell while I waved to her with my right hand.

" _Goodbye, little speaker,"_ she answered just as Tom was closing the study door after us.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"One looks for an intruder in his living room and finds a missing child," Tom announced our presence as we entered the Entrance Hall, where I was supposed to have turned up fifteen minutes ago.

I was so happy to have been spending some time alone with the great Lord Slytherin and to even hold his hand that I had to restrain myself from swinging our joined hands all the way to the Entrance Hall.

When my parents saw me standing beside their Lord, their worried faces relaxed immediately. In their relief, neither of the adults in the room wondered how I had been able to even enter Lord Slytherin's private living room as surely a seven year old could never break down the powerful wards placed there.

"Thank, Merlin," was all my mother said before she crushed me into her arms, relief clearly written over her face. "We thought that you've ended up Merlin knows where."

"Breath, mum" I said as she nearly cut off my air supply. Taking a step back, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, mum. Lord Slytherin was even so nice to let my pet Nagini," I told her, joyfully. I was still captivated by the snake's beauty.

The last comment caught the attention of both male Malfoys in the room. Draco loudly complained, "That's so mean. I want to pet her too."

His father, on the other hand, thought suspiciously, _How very unusual. In all my time as his first in-command, I've never seen anyone besides Lord Slytherin pet Nagini. And we're here to celebrate the outcome of Harry's Elencho Foreas, something he hadn't done for Draco's test..._

But before Lucius could think on it further, the Longbottoms finally arrived and our party moved towards the dining room, as I excitedly told Neville and Draco all about my meeting with Nagini, only leaving out the Parseltongue part.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, except when Lord Slytherin and my father excused themselves to the study for half an hour to discuss how they would handle my and Tom's engagement.

My father was disappointed that Tom still insisted on my father's secrecy. He had hoped that now that my Foreas status was confirmed and the marriage contract was signed, Lord Slytherin would finally openly announce our engagement or at least inform the invited dinner guests about it. But Tom did not even gift me with the second lightening bolt earring, saying that it would be my gift when I was introduced into society when I was eleven.

So, least to say that my father didn't look overly happy when he came back half an hour later as he would have loved to brag about my perfect betrothal. But at least his obvious bad mood help to dispel Lucius Malfoy's suspicions.

The blond man couldn't help but wonder if they had been discussing some marriage arrangements for me, as Tom had officially congratulated me on my Foreas status before dinner started. _Surely our Lord isn't interested in the Potter boy?_ The blond wondered, having the right idea. _No, he must simply be advising James of some good matches for his son. Or maybe what he should do about his newly developed lack of an heir,_ he thought, dismissing any suspicions he had about I becoming his Lord's consort as surely my father would have looked utterly happy if he had gotten me engaged to Lord Slytherin.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Around ten in the evening, all the invited guests made their way into the Entrance Hall to go home as Draco and I were too tired to stay awake much longer and Neville was already sound asleep in his father's arms.

The Longbottoms were the first to depart, followed by the Malfoy family. When only my parents and I were left in the room with Lord Slytherin, Nagini found her way into the Entrance Hall.

_Are you leaving already, little speaker?_ she asked while she moved up Tom's body to rest her head on his left shoulder, staring at me.

_Yes, he is about to leave,_ Tom answered in my stead. _Do you two want to say goodbye to each other?_ he asked us.

Luckily for me, my parents had been looking at Tom when I nodded my head in answer to his question, or otherwise they would have wondered why I was reacting to something which Tom had obviously been discussing with Nagini, in a language which I should have no means to understand.

When also Nagini hissed her agreement to the suggestion, Tom addressed my parents, "Nagini wants to say goodbye to Harry. Is that alright with you?" he unnecessarily asked my parents for permission as if they could deny him such a request. But even if he hadn't been their Lord and my future husband, my parents would still have voiced their agreement, as my happy and eager face wouldn't have allowed them to say no, regardless of the fact that Nagini was a very dangerous snake, who could kill me in seconds if she wanted to.

When I reached Tom and Nagini, Lord Slytherin knelt down in front of me just like before so that I could easily reach the snake. And while I was busy petting Nagini's pretty scales, Tom moved his head so that he could speak into my ear without my parents overhearing our talk.

" _If you have any problems, you can always come to me, Harry. Always,"_ Tom whispered into my ear, even though the use of Parseltongue would have ensured that no one besides us and Nagini would know about his generous offer.

I just nodded in agreement, still being enchanted by Nagini's beauty.

**End Flashback**

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Really James, how can you even think of marking your own flesh and blood?" I heard Sirius ask my father in disbelief after I left my room to walk down to the living room where the Claiming Ceremony would take place. Intrigued, I stopped in front of my father's study to listen in to their talk.

"I thought that after Lily you would do everything in your power to make sure that no child of yours would have to go through the pain of the branding. So, why the hell do you want to mark Harry?" he spit at my father, trying to talk some sense into him so that the whole Claiming Ceremony would be called off.

"I have my reasons," my father said firmly. Though even I could see from my place at the partly opened door that he wasn't very happy about doing it.

"Come on, Prongs. You can't lie to your best friend. Even a blind man could see that you don't really want to do it. So, name me one good reason why you're doing this shit to our Harry," my godfather growled.

"I want him to be able to marry someone of higher ranking when he is older and we both know that they, because of their position in society, can only accept spouses who were claimed by their fathers. Besides, I can't just cancel the ceremony at the last minute," my father answered, trying to stay calm while his friend got angrier by the minute.

"You know you can, James!" Sirius said with conviction. "The only ones who know about Harry's Claiming Ceremony are you, I, Lily and Snape and neither of us would tell a thing if you called it now. We would be happy about it actually.

"And if in ten years Harry happens to need your mark so that he can marry one of those higher ranking snobs then we can always perform the ritual after he finished Hogwarts and just say that he's had the mark since he was seven," Sirius argued.

"Really?" my father asked. "What if I die during a fight with one of the rogue werewolves before Harry finishes Hogwarts? I won't be able to mark him then and as I'm the last Potter there is no one else still alive who could do it in my stead. So, you see, Sirius, I have to do it now so that I won't take away Harry's opportunity to have a secure future by marrying into a high standing family. With him being a Foreas, I can't secure his place in society anymore with simply naming him my heir."

"You're talking like you've already found someone to marry Harry off to," Sirius accused my father. "And I really don't like that this someone obviously insists on branding a child. Are you sure that this is someone you want Harry to marry?" he asked, stepping forward so that his upper body was leaning over my father's desk while his right hand was formed into a claw ready to grab my father's robes in a second to shake some sense into his friend.

Obviously he was very worried for my well-being and greatly doubting that whoever my father had chosen for me would make a good husband.

I, on the other hand, was totally grossed out by the thought of having to kiss a girl anytime soon. After all, they had cooties and that was reason enough for me to stay far away.

It didn't even cross my mind at that time that they weren't referring to someone of the female sex but were talking about another male. But then, why should I have thought such a thing when the only couples I knew were hetero ones, except for Sirius and Remus but they weren't married, and neither Sirius nor my father had used anything but gender neutral words when they mentioned my future spouse.

"Harry is my son and if securing his future means that I have to mark him then so be it," my father told Sirius in a stern voice which didn't allow for any argument as he stood up from the chair and walked towards the door. In his mind he was sure that the old traditionalists would never accept me if I wasn't claimed by him, especially if I would be Lord Slytherin's consort and as such needed to be a good role model.

Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, I quickly ran down the stairs to the living room where my mother and Severus already awaited me.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Fifteen minutes later, it was finally time to start the Claiming Ceremony. My parents had already told me that the branding would hurt, so I wasn't exactly looking forward for it to start.

Even though Severus told me, while we waited for Sirius and my father to join us in the living room, that he had brewed a potion for me which would take away all the pain, taking it would have to wait until the ceremony was officially finished.

The fact that everyone in the room had either a resigned, upset, anxious, or angry look on their face wasn't improving my mood either. But, if the argument between Sirius and my father was anything to go by, there was no way out of the Claiming Ceremony even thought it was obvious that none of them wanted it to happen. So, after my mother gave me a pained smile, I resigned to my fate and did as my father had instructed me and knelt down onto a pillow which was decorated with Runes my father's ancestors had embroidered on it.

Both of my godfathers were relieved to see me kneel as they had feared that my father had chosen one of the two traditional branding places for a Foreas―on the inner thigh or on an ass check, which were both more sensitive than other body parts and would also call for a bigger mark, thus prolonging the branding process and the pain it brought.

They were even more relieved when they saw that my father was placing the tip of his wand against my right upper arm right were my shoulder ended instead of opening my dress shirt and placing it on my chest. There the mark would have been four times larger than on the place on my arm which my father had chosen.

Tapping his wand twice against the chosen place of skin, my father said in a clear but still somewhat forced voice, " **Clamare dominii***."

And as the spell started to brand the Potter family crest into my arm, I couldn't do anything more but scream in pain and cry my eyes out when I wasn't pleading for my father to stop what he was doing. But even if he wanted to, once the branding spell was cast it couldn't be stopped until the whole crest was branded into the skin.

After forty long and painful seconds, which felt like a lifetime to me, the Potter crest was finally completely etched into my skin while my face was covered in tears and snot. Hiccupping and with blurry eyes, I noticed that my father was holding out his right hand for me to kiss so that the Claiming Ceremony would be officially over and Severus could give me the potion which would take away the pain.

But I was still too shaken from the pain to lean forward and kiss the tan hand in front of me.

"Why are you still standing here?" I suddenly heard my mother's sorrowful voice ask. "Harry needs the potion!" she mumbled desperately into Severus' chest. During the branding I hadn't noticed that my mother had turned away from my screaming form on the floor and had buried her head in her best friend's chest, unable to watch her child in so much pain and not being able to do anything to help me.

Severus, who had tried his best to comfort my distraught mother, softly answered her previous question, "Harry hasn't kissed your _husband's_ hand, yet."

While the adults only heard the distaste with which the Potions master said _husband,_ Severus' calm tone helped me to think clearly long enough to remember that if I wanted the pain to end, I would have to kiss my father's hand.

When my wet and trembling lips finally touched the skin of my father's forehand, Severus let go of my mother and in three long strides was kneeling in front of me, holding out the potion bottle which would take away the lingering pain and ensure that I wouldn't develop a fever during the night.

"Drink this, Harry," he told me in his soothing voice as he placed the tip of the bottle to my lips.

Moments after I swallowed the last of the foul-tasting potion, the pain began to finally seep away, while I buried my head in Severus chest, this time crying in relief.

"It's over, Harry. It's all over," he whispered into my ear as he rubbed calming circles on my back.

Soon, Severus' voice was joined by my mother's shaken one. Both of them whispering soothing words into my ears while I distantly heard Sirius yelling at my father out on the patio, pointing every so often to my shaken form in Severus and Lily's arms. He even went so far as to say that I would have been better off if Severus had been my father.

And while one of my godfathers was screaming his throat hoarse, my other godfather wondered if he could have done more for me while he was looking into my green eyes, which were currently as sad as my mother's. With his knowledge about the prophesy, Severus was sure that Lord Slytherin would have agreed to not let me be marked at all if James had made it a term of our marriage contract―but opposed to Severus my father didn't know that Tom would consent to nearly everything to have me as his consort, so James did everything in his power to do what he believed would help secure my future at his Lord's side―even if it brought pain to both of us.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And that is how I ended up being marked as the property of my father, becoming nothing more than the brood mare of my future husband in the eyes of some of the old traditionalists only because I possessed the ability to bear children.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Clamare dominii:** Latin for "Claiming of ownership" according to Google Translator.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** I know that the whole branding a child tradition seems brutal, but I wanted to include an analogy for the Dark Mark. For your information, the tragedy arc will last about 20 more chapters.

**Next:** Draco's introduction into society and a jealous Tom.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings:** I added an Evil Dumbledore warning to the story.

**AN:** Sorry for the wait. I had another chapter for my main story to finish before working more on this chapter. And thank you all for the new reviews, alerts and favourites. They make me really happy. :)

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 5** **-~-~-**

**naivety,** noun (plural naiveties):

-lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement

-innocence or unsophistication

(From: oxforddictionaries)

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Friedrich Schiller once said, "Every true genius is bound to be naïve." But for many people, naivety is just a synonym for the stupidity of fools or the innocence of children. Which makes me wonder if when one combines the old saying "Only children and fools speak the truth" with how naivety is also connected to those two groups of people, if the resulting conclusion would be that telling the truth equals doing something stupid?

I don't know. But sometimes, it feels to me that this must be the case. After all, it was the words a portrait of a young girl so naively repeated which set a scheme into motion which, in the end, drove me to where I am now, sitting under the shade of an old tree somewhere in the afterlife listening to the sounds of the nearby river flowing by while I'm telling the story of my life.

However, when I met the famous Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, for the first time during Draco's introduction to society party, I had been completely unaware of the little scheme of his he had developed for the 'Greater Good' of the wizarding world. But then, what nine year old boy isn't naïve?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 10th June 1989**

Today was the day on which Draco would be officially introduced to society. In the wizarding world is was tradition that boys were introduced at the age of nine while girls and Foreas had to wait until their eleventh birthday for their coming out celebration.

In theory, I shouldn't currently dress up for the party as only children who had already come out were allowed to go to such social gatherings. But Draco and I were still as close as if we really were brothers. So, we, of course, whined and pleaded with our parents that it would be unfair if I couldn't attend the big event in Draco's life. After all, the rules state that if you're a close family member of the child who is coming out at that day, you can attend the celebration, regardless whether you've already been introduced or not.

And while, like all pure-bloods, my father and Draco's father were somehow blood-related, they said that it wasn't close enough to allow the exception. Fortunately, Narcissa wasn't as close minded as our fathers because she didn't restrict the term family to only blood-relations. So, instead of using the distant blood relation between our parents, Narcissa suggested, as both Draco and I were Severus' godsons, that we were godbrothers.

"And surely a godbrother is allowed to attend the other godbrother's introduction to society party," she had told us with wink, not carrying that she just made up the term godbrother for our benefit.

While Draco and I did a happy dance, Ms. Malfoy had called Severus and told him of her plan. The Potions master would be the one to bring me to the party to underline our godbrother relationship, while my parents would meet us later. Severus had given his agreement to the plan immediately. Though, this could also have had something to do with him seeing Draco and I dancing in the background and not wanting to break our hearts by saying 'No'.

As it was tradition that the close family of the one being introduced arrived at least a day early, I had stayed in Malfoy Manor after my friend's birthday party some days ago. I would later enter the grand ballroom together with Draco, his parents, his aunt and uncles and, of course, Severus.

"Are you ready," came Draco's impatient voice from the door of the quest room I was staying in. The blond was already dressed in the finest robes of black and green―the colours of the Malfoy family.

"Come on in," I called, not wanting to keep my friend waiting in the doorway. "I'm nearly done. I just have to get the cloak fastened to my shoulders," I said in frustration. I've been trying unsuccessfully to fasten the cloak to my sleeveless dress shirt for five minutes.

"Really, Harry, will you ever be able to get ready on your own?" Draco asked as he took the robe out of my fumbling hands and with practised ease, secured the cloak to the buttons on my shoulders and then closed the clap just over where my collarbone was.

"There, all ready," he said, trying to ease out the wrinkles in the fabric I had caused in my struggle with the button.

"Thank you," I answered, grateful for his help.

Stepping in front of me, Draco looked me up and down before he praised, "You should wear green more often. It certainly suits you better than the red colour of the Potter family."

While during big social events it was tradition that one wears the colours of their family, our parents had agreed that this time I should not wear my Potter-red robes but wear one of the Malfoy family colours to further underline the statement that I'm part of their family.

And while I didn't really have a fashion sense, I still had to agree with my friend. The one time I wore red robes to a political gathering my father had taken me to, I had felt really uncomfortable wearing the loud colour. But then, the son of the Brazilian minister who had also attended the party had it even worse, as the colour of his family was a bright neon pink. I'm sure you can imagine how an eight year old boy had liked this.

I at least had the added comfort of having Nagini by my side for half of the evening which took the attention away from my red robes. Though, it had been hard sometimes to not laugh about a funny comment she made about one person or another, as I still I had to keep my Parseltongue gift hidden. Something, which the snake didn't miss to remind me of as it was the first thing she said to me that evening.

However, it was a very good feeling to share some secret smirks with Tom during dinner. Lord Slytherin had insisted that I would sit to his left, facing the Brazilian minister, saying something about making sure that Nagini wouldn't confuse my hand with meat when she smelled all the delicious food on the table. And as the snake didn't want to leave me, I had to come over to Tom so that he could keep her in check. Not that anyone could have been able to confirm what the snake had said.

"Still, I don't know why my father doesn't allow me to get the dragon tattoo I want. It's so much better than a stupid broom as an introduction present," the blond complained, looking wishfully at my Foreas mark.

Even after two years my best friend was still jealous of my mark. Two years ago, he even went so far as to beg his father on his knees to mark him too, saying that having the Malfoy crest on his arm would show how proud he was to be a Malfoy. Needless to say, Lucius Malfoy was far from amused about his son's wish, especially since Draco in the beginning had asked him nearly everyday to mark him.

Lucius was so irritated by his son's constant pleas that he had been considering to forbid Draco and I from playing with each other regularly so that his son wouldn't see my mark so often and get jealous. But fortunately for my and Draco's friendship, my godfather Sirius had witnessed one of Draco's pleading episodes before it came to that.

He knew that Draco's parents didn't want to explain to my friend what the mark on my arm really meant, at least not yet, and he agreed with them. So, he chose another way to get the blond boy to lay off. He simply, but very effectively, told Draco that a moving, coloured dragon tattoo on his arm would be so much cooler than the boring black Malfoy crest, and of course, Draco totally agreed with him. Why the 'oh so great' Lucius Malfoy hadn't thought about it, I don't know.

Though, Draco wasn't overly happy when Sirius told him a minute later that he only could get a tattoo after he was off-age. But, before Draco could go back to insisting that he would prefer the now boring Malfoy crest over nothing, my godfather said that if he got the Malfoy crest, he wouldn't be able to get the dragon.

As Draco still seemed to waver, Sirius promised him that the next time he visited he would bring him a big supply of Muggle kids's tattoos, which appeased the blond boy for the moment. And when he finally got his promised package of kids' tattoos, Draco was totally, utterly happy. Not only were those tattoos coloured but he could also have more than one at a time and what was even better in Draco's opinion, was that he could change them with his moods. One day he had a skull on his arm when we were playing pirates and the next morning he was covered in Muggle versions of dragons because he was Draco, the invincible Dragon Knight.

And while the Muggle tattoos had been able to solve the 'Draco wants to be marked' issue my branding had created, they hadn't been able to close the rift the branding had created inside my family.

On the one side, there was my father, who was the bogeyman because he insisted on the branding. And on the other side, there were my mother, my godfathers and also Severus.

Surprisingly, Severus' grudge against my father had only lasted two weeks while Sirius and Remus had needed over three months to be on somewhat friendly term with their former best friend again.

However, thinking back, it wasn't really so surprising that Severus was the first one to let the branding rest. Not only did he know who my fiancé was but he didn't have a high opinion of my father in the first place. Sirius and Remus, though, had always believed that James was the epitome of goodness. Someone who would fight tooth and nail against his son being branded.

My mother was a completely different matter. Opposed to the three males, she had forgiven my father after a month. Not only because she had noticed that their fighting made me uncomfortable, but also she still loved my father.

Besides, Lily could understand why he had done it. Even if it had been years since Greyback's attack on Halloween, the event had made it very clear that my family was one of his targets and as the werewolf was still running around it was highly possible that my father could be attacked and wouldn't be as lucky as the Longbottoms had been. So, she could understand why he marked me even though it wasn't certain whether or not my future husband would require me to be branded.

Though, I can't help but wonder if she would have forgiven him as easily if she had known that I was already engaged and they easily could have asked my fiancé if he wanted me marked or not.

I had followed my mother's example and had forgiven my father within a month of the branding too―not only because I loved him, but also because I had seen and felt during his talk with Sirius in the study that he hadn't really wanted to hurt me that day with the branding. He only had had my best interest at heart and sadly that had involved marking me to secure a good future for me.

Though I won't deny that it had been a great help that Draco had been so jealous of my mark. That my best friend thought that the mark was cool, really helped me to not see it only as something which had brought me great pain and had made the previous happy atmosphere of my home turn dark and gloomy for a month or two. But then, I never told the blond that getting the mark had hurt like hell, as even though I had been mad at my father, I still didn't want him to be seen in a bad light or as a monster.

"Come on now, Harry. I don't want to be late to my own party," Draco complained as he tugged on my arm, bringing me out of my previous thoughts and dragging me towards the grand ballroom of Malfoy Manor.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The protocol for the party stated that the last ones to enter the ballroom were the child which was coming out together with their intimate family. Therefore, the first ones to enter the grand ballroom were Draco's godparents, Bellatrix and Severus with me in their midst. When all eyes turned on me, I was glad for both Severus' and Bellatrix's secure grip on my hands.

It was obvious to everyone that the guests were wondering why I was entering the room together with Draco's family. The murmurs got even louder when someone noticed the Potter family crest on my right arm.

While it was well-known that both Lucius' and James' son were the same age, my father had kept my Foreas status a secret. But with my ninth birthday approaching they would have found out about my Foreas status soon enough when they wouldn't have received invitations to my own introduction into society party next month. So, my father saw no reason to avoid the unavoidable any longer and decided that I should proudly display my Foreas status.

Nevertheless, regardless of my Foreas status I still shouldn't be attending the celebration, even less, enter the ballroom together with the Malfoy family. But luckily for me, the murmurs calmed down when the three of us were announced as "Draco's godmother Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco's godfather Severus Snape and Draco's godbrother Harry Potter."

I even heard one woman say to her neighbour, "I totally forgot that they're godbrothers," and had to hold back a laugh. It seemed like the Malfoys were so influential that some lower-class witches ate out of their hands. Severus must have heard the comment too, as his lips had turned up on one side, suppressing a smirk.

But not everyone was this easily influenced. Some of the higher ranking guests and the ones which weren't especially fond of the Malfoys were looking towards where Lord Slytherin was standing, waiting for their Lord to make his displeasure about my 'godbrother' status and general presence known.

To their dismay, Tom only calmly took another sip of his drink and then focused his attention back to the door through which I had just entered the ballroom, waiting for Draco and his parents to walk in.

When the heavy doors finally opened again, even the last eye finally left me as they all focused their gaze on Draco in his stunning black and green robes, standing proudly―some would call it arrogantly―between his parents.

"Our guest of honour, Draco Malfoy together with his parents Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy," the presenter announced.

When the applause of the guests had finally calmed down, Lucius discretely cast the Sonorus charm on his son, so that the voice could be heard in the whole room.

"Dear Lord Slytherin," Draco began his opening speech with a respectful bow in Tom's direction. "Dear Sirs and Madams," he continued to greet the general audience, "thank you all for attending today's ball in honour of my introduction to society. I wish you all a good evening, enjoy the music and the wine," my friend ended his short speech and Lucius cancelled the Sonorus charm

Once again the guests applauded before they went back to dancing, talking, and eating.

Only having been to one ball before, where I had been placed with the other children my age, I didn't know what to do at this ball for grown-ups. Looking around, I saw that Draco and his parents were surrounded by well wishers, so going over to them was out of the question.

On the dance floor to my right, I saw Bellatrix being expertly led around the dance floor, avoiding other not so gracious dancers by her husband which meant that I couldn't go to them for guidiance either.

Fortunately, Severus was still standing next to me and didn't hesitate to take me by the hand. Though, the act was not entirely selfless on his part for watching and guiding me was the perfect excuse for him to stay away from the main party.

"Come on, Harry. Let's find you something to drink while Bellatrix is twirled around the dance floor," my godfather suggested, taking my hand once again and guiding me towards the refreshment tables near the left wall.

As we walked across the ballroom, I noticed how some of the guests discretely, and some not so discretely, pointed in my direction and the Foreas mark.

"Ignore them," Severus whispered to me. "They're just surprised that you're a Foreas."

"I know," I answered. "My dad has already warned me that something like this would happen. But still..." I trailed off.

"But their stares still make you feel uncomfortable," the Potions master finished for me.

I nodded in agreement as we finally reached the refreshment tables. While Severus searched for a drink, he complained under his breath that the Malfoys should serve more than wines, champagne, whiskey, scotch and alcoholic cocktails, especially if underage children were also attending the ball. Severus was so focused on finding something suitable for me to drink that he didn't notice the sudden commotion around him as the guests hurried away from the refreshment tables.

Just as he finally found something which really was orange juice and not a cocktail that looked like cherry juice, the reason behind the commotion greeted me. " _Hello, little speaker,_ " Nagini hissed to me right.

Before I could greet the snake back, an elderly woman in a horrible flower dress commented to her friend, "It seems like our Lord has finally seen fit to punish the Potter brat for his impertinence."

She was obviously assuming that Tom had sent his poisonous snake after me to kill me―or at least severely hurt me for attending Draco's ball. Really, as if someone like Lord Slytherin would murder a child out in the open for everyone to see.

"Now, now, Agatha," a kind grandfatherly voice chastised the woman. "Surely you don't believe that a child should be killed only because he wanted to attend his best friend's special day," the speaker added.

Turning around, I was met with the sight of an old man with a long white beard, wearing neon green robes which were decorated with sparkling lemon drops. Only one wizard would wear something like this: Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts.

"No, Albus, of course not," the woman meekly responded. "You must have misheard what I said because of the lovely music from the orchestra. I just told Bertha that it is very gracious of our Lord to reward the Potter child for his determination to find a way to attend this ball by sending over his charming snake," she rephrased her previous words to not be seen as a champion for child murder. Young children like him seem to be very fascinated with animals of all kinds," she added and as to prove her point she pointed with her gloved hand in my direction.

When Dumbledore turned around he was met by a unique sight. Whilst the two one-hundred-plus-year olds had been busy talking, Nagini had climbed up my body and was now comfortably wrapped around my torso, her head with the lethal fangs was resting right next to my cervical artery.

Whereas Dumbledore's blue eyes were twinkling at the sight of me, Agatha and her friend took a step away, their fear of Nagini obvious in their eyes.

"It seems like young Harry gets along splendid with her," the headmaster commented.

While Dumbledore's demanding gaze gave me the feeling that I was supposed to react to his comment, I still felt that it wasn't my place to add something to an adults conversation. For the second time on that evening Severus came to my rescue.

"Lord Slytherin told me that Nagini has a special fondness for Harry," he commented to the pair standing in front of us. Seeing the masochistic glint appear in Agatha's eyes at the word 'special', he saw the need to elaborate, "During the dinner with the Brazilian minister, she was curled around him for half of the night, not wanting to leave my godson."

"But, Professor Snape, if I'm not mistaken, you were at Hogwarts during that particular dinner," Agatha pointed out, wanting to discredit Severus, totally ignoring the first part of Severus statement where he said that it was what Tom had told him.

"I was," he therefore admitted. "But," he continued, "I had a meeting with our Lord on the following Sunday where he himself briefed me about Harry and Nagini's interaction during the dinner. So, I dare say that I'm even more well informed about the ongoings between them then the actual dinner guests as Lord Slytherin translated some of his snakes comments to me," he mentioned the source of his knowledge once more.

Not knowing how to respond, Agatha and her friend Bertha turned around and then embarrassedly walked towards the opposite end of the ballroom.

"And, Harry, are you already excited about attending Hogwarts in two years?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"A bit," I answered. Opposed to Draco, I was not overly anxious to finally attend Hogwarts. "At least I'll be able to see Severus more often," I added lamely.

"With the daring you've shown to attend this party, I'm sure you will be in Gryffindor," the headmaster surmised, wanting to win me over for his former house.

"I would say that Harry's endeavours should be described as cunning and resourceful rather than daring. So, he is more likely to be a candidate for Slytherin, than Gryffindor," Tom commented.

"Ah, Tom, how nice of you to join us," Dumbledore greeted. Only he would dare to address Lord Slytherin by his given name.

Tom decided to ignore the headmaster and turned his back to the old man. " _Has the old man bothered you?"_ he asked both me and Nagini, or at least I thought that he was asking both of us.

" _Not_ _ **yet**_ _,_ " Nagini answered. " _His robes, though, are a completely other matter_ ," she added.

Tom chuckled in reply before he voiced his agreement, _"Yes, his robes certainly leave something to desire. But, at least he doesn't also wear Mrs Longbottom's stuffed vulture hat."_

I had to suppress a laugh at the image of the headmaster wearing Neville's grandmother's favourite hat, especially together with the robes. Though, when Nagini added, _"No, that hat would be far better suited for Severus,"_ I couldn't do anything else but to break out in hysterical laughter.

"What is so amusing, dear boy?" Dumbledore asked, very, very curious about the source of my amusement.

"Nothing," I somehow gasped out between fits of laughter, luckily not slipping into Parseltongue.

Having a feeling that the headmaster would want to hear a satisfying explanation, I tried to come up with a good cover story, as explaining that Nagini made a joke was out of the question.

By the time I'd calmed down again, I had a believable excuse ready. "It was nothing, really," I said. "Nagini's tongue had just tickled a sensitive spot on my neck."

" _Good thinking, Harry,"_ Tom praised me while Severus and Dumbledore probably assumed that he was reprimanding Nagini for tickling me. I just smiled, happy about being praised by my idol.

"Maybe you should take your familiar off of Harry," Dumbledore suggested in a friendly voice.

"No," I immediately shot out. While Nagini was heavy, her presence still gave me a feeling of protection and comfort. Besides, if Nagini stayed with me, I would have an excuse to interact more with Tom during the remainder of the ball. _Maybe I could even sit next to him again?_ I wondered.

"But, my dear boy, Nagini is a highly poisonous constrictor. Surely you understand that having her around your neck is very dangerous," the headmaster said, trying to separate me from my serpent friend.

"No, she would never harm me," I defended her immediately as Tom and Severus smirked at my stubbornness. Or maybe at the fact that a nine-year old was telling off the great Albus Dumbledore.

"When I go to Hogwarts, I'll bring a snake as a pet," I added, full of resolve.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but Hogwarts' rules only allow the students to bring either a cat, a frog or an owl."

"Then I won't go to Hogwarts," I said, pouting.

Dumbledore, who feared that I would ask my parents to send me to Durmstrang where I would be out of his reach of influence then played one of his trump cards. "Ah, Harry, if you go to Hogwarts, you can see Severus every day."

As much as I loved Severus, I had grown up with only seeing him during the holidays, as well as about one weekend a month while school was in session. This was enough to satisfy my need to see my godfather however, so being able to see Severus every day wasn't as exciting as Dumbledore had hoped it to be. Thus, I stubbornly continued petting Nagini, not wavering an inch.

"And your friend Draco will go to Hogwarts too," he added when he noticed that mentioning his Potions professor didn't have the desired effect.

Severus, who had silently watched as the headmaster tried to bribe me with his presence in the castle, thought that enough was enough. "Actually, Headmaster," he began, "Lucius is considering Durmstrang for Draco. I'm sure if Harry is going to Durmstrang, Draco would go with him."

Severus didn't even blink when Dumbledore gave him a look of betrayal.

"Don't worry, Harry. You can bring a snake with you no matter what school you'll be attending," Tom changed the topic before the headmaster could think about casting a wandless and silent killing course at Severus.

"But the rules..." Dumbledore began.

"As a founder's heir, I can make exceptions to them," Tom calmly interrupted him.

"Besides," Severus added, "I remember that Percy Weasley brought a rat as a pet during his first year, _Headmaster._ "

Realising that further arguing would only lead to his defeat, or even worse, to me really going to Durmstrang, he wisely backed down but not without having the last word.

"Ah, yes. But rats aren't as dangerous as snakes, are they?" he asked rhetorically. "After all, they can't kill the students by strangling them to death or by poisoning them."

"Don't worry," Tom said. "I'll make sure to pick out a well-behaved snake for Harry."

"You'll get me a snake?" I excitedly asked, unaware that all the adults were aware that _'a snake that disliked Dumbledore_ ' was implied as they knew that Dumbledore and Tom hated and distrusted each other.

"Yes," Tom answered my question with a smile. "Though, if Nagini continues to cling to you, I fear that I'll have to part with her to let her go to Hogwarts with you"

"Really? You would let her go with me?" I asked, even more excited and enthusiastic than before, totally forgetting about the other two wizards listening to our conversation.

"Of course," Tom simply answered, petting my head.

Dumbledore wisely chose to not say anything about how dangerous Nagini was. I would bet that he already feared that out of all the different snake species in existence, Tom would chose the only one which was both a constrictor and a viper for me, especially as his own snake was of the same species.

The headmaster was saved by finding an excuse to leave us to come up with a new strategy by the announcement that dinner would be served now and that everyone should take their seat.

"It's a good thing that I already suspected that Nagini would cling to you and asked that we be seated next to each other," Tom said to lighten the mood.

" _Come on, Nagini. I'll carry you over to the table. When we're there, you can coil around Harry again,_ " Tom said, holding out his arm for Nagini, as she was too heavy for me to walk across the ballroom to the dining room with her body coiled around me.

When Nagini was settled around her master, Tom took my hand and led me towards our seats.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The tables in the dining room were arranged in a U-shape with Draco, flanked by his parents, sitting in the middle of the head table. Next to Narcissa sat her sister Bellatrix with her husband, Rodolphus. On Lucius right was Severus, with me sitting next to my godfather.

And while Tom wasn't part of Draco's family and therefore shouldn't be sitting at the head table, he was still their Lord and deserved a seat at the main table. Though, Lucius had originally chosen the seat right next to himself for Lord Slytherin, he had given in to his Lord's demand and seated him right next to me.

I was so distracted by Nagini's constant complains that it was a waste of food to skin and cook a rabbit instead of swallowing it whole, that I didn't notice that I was the main dinner topic at the two long side tables. Not so surprisingly, the revelation that I was a Foreas coupled with the fact that Tom, not only was seated next to me, but also led me to the table, made the guests wonder if the two of us were engaged. After all, Lord Slytherin was still single...

At the places where some people who also attended the Brazilian's minister party sat, the rumours were calmed down rather quickly as they explained that their Lord was only sitting next to me because Nagini liked me.

Other guests though did look back and forth between my parents and their Lord, trying to read anything from their facial expressions. While Tom's face didn't give away anything, my father's surprised expression let them assume that I most likely wasn't engaged to Lord Slytheirn. What they didn't know though, was that my father was surprised because, with the request to keep our engagement a secret, he didn't think that Tom would so publicly and openly give attention to me, even if he used Nagini as a pretext.

The ones who sat nearer to the head table even tried to make out if I was wearing the traditional snake earrings all fiancés of Lord Slytherin wore. However, as my hair was covering my ears, they couldn't see the lightning bolt earring. Though that changed after the dinner was over and Draco had led me to the dance floor.

While I really didn't want to dance the first dance with everyone watching me, Draco had pleaded with me until I finally gave in. Not that it had taken me long to surrender. My conscience would have plagued me if I had let Draco dance with either his mother or his aunt, who both were tall women. Draco dancing with them would have looked ridiculous because of the height difference. So, I was the only one of his possible dance partners with whom he could gracefully dance.

And in the end, dancing wasn't too bad as Draco was a very good leader and I simply had to follow his movements. As the song neared its end, I was even smiling happily at the blond, my head nearly resting on my friend's shoulder.

Of course, the people couldn't help themselves but to tattle once more about my potential fiancé candidates, only that this time it was Draco who was speculated as my future husband as my friend waltzed my around the room. At least this time their assumption wasn't too far-fetched as it wasn't unusual for males to share their first official dance with their fiancé.

Though, they soon went back to assuming that Lord Slytherin would be the one to marry me because the first thing Tom did when Draco brought me back over to him and Nagini after the dance, was to boldly sweep back my hair behind my ear to display my lightning bolt earring. And even if it wasn't the traditional snake, what other reason should he have to display the earring but to state his claim on me?

Even Nagini noticed Tom's jealous behaviour as she boldly asked, _"Jealous much, Tom?"_

" _No, I just like the earring,"_ he answered, leaving me to wonder what Nagini thought he was jealous about. I didn't dare to ask either of them though.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And that's how the people started to wonder if their Lord had finally found himself a fiancé and how I personally met the great Albus Dumbledore for the first time in all his sparkling and twinkling glory. And while I was not as naïve as Draco in regards to the meaning of my mark, I still was too young and naïve to see behind the scheme Dumbledore was already plotting. But fortunately, both Tom and Severus were already suspicious of the headmaster.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar** **―Blinded** **-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** The poll on fanfiction.net into which house Harry should be sorted into will close with the update of the next chapter. So, if you haven't or don't want Harry to end up in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, go to my profile and help Dumbledore to get Harry into Gryffindor. ;)

Also, Harry should be old enough to be in a relationship with Tom in about 4 chapters.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended with the quoting of the Hogwarts letter in this chapter.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **AN:** One of my reviewers asked when I would reveal the second part of the prophesy. The answer is that it will be revealed with the start of the HEA arc, so in about 15-20 chapters.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 6 -~-~-**

Eleven is a very important age for a magical child. It is the age at which they start to attend Hogwarts or one of the other magic schools in Europe. The eleventh birthday is even more special for witches and Foreas as they not only receive their Hogwarts' letter but also, finally have their introduction to society party.

I couldn't wait for my own eleventh birthday to come with how much Draco praised all the social gatherings he had attended in the last two years. Dancing, eating lots of desserts and, even better, staying up well past his bedtime.

And while I had a lot of fun during my introduction to society party, it unfortunately didn't go as planned as an attack by Greyback and his pack of rogue werewolves once again disrupted a party my parents were hosting. At least this time they didn't attack the party itself.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

It was fortunate that the only part of the _Prophet_ I was interested in was the page with the Quidditch news. So, I hadn't gotten wind of all the speculations about my revealed Foreas status and my possible fiancés that were printed the week following Draco's introduction to society party. So, I still didn't even suspect that my fiancée wasn't even of the female gender like I'd assumed.

However, Tom had decided that at eleven I was finally old enough to learn about our engagement. So, a week before my birthday, he asked my father to stay behind after a meeting to plan the reveal.

**Thursday, 25th July 1991**

"With Harry's birthday approaching, I'm sure you can imagine that what I want to talk about concerns your son," Lord Slytherin said to my father.

"I assume that it is about your engagement?" James answered.

"Yes, among other things. I believe that Harry has already told you that I promised him that I would pick out a snake for him when he starts Hogwarts?" Tom asked.

When my father nodded in agreement, as I had recently bragged about it during breakfast, Tom continued, "Good. I would like to take him to Diagon Alley with me on the sixth of August to buy the snake. I could shop for his Hogwarts things too then, if this is agreeable with you?"

"Of course, my Lord," James answered. After all how could he deny his Lord such a simple request? _Besides, Harry would surely love to spend some time with Lord Slytherin,_ he argued.

"Good," Tom said again, folding his hands and letting his chin rest on them. "With this solved, we only need to discuss the announcement of my and Harry's betrothal.

"I would like to tell Harry about our engagement myself on his birthday next week when I present him with the second earring," Tom stated, leaving no room for protest.

Not only was my father relieved to hear that I would finally know about the engagement, but also that he wouldn't be the one to explain it to me. Besides, he thought that the gifting of the earring was the perfect opportunity to explain the situation to me. "That would be perfect," he commented.

"As for the public announcement, I believe that Harry and I sharing his first dance should be enough to make my claim known. We can give an official statement the next day if it becomes necessary," Tom said.

My father hummed in agreement, before he asked, "Anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No, that was all," Lord Slytherin dismissed him.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 31st July 1991**

It was finally the day of my birthday. My eleventh birthday. So, it wasn't surprising that I was up at dawn. And while my mother was able to be amused about I waking up the whole house at shortly after five, Draco wasn't really in the mood to get out of bed. In the end, he humoured me though, but this could also have something to do with me threatening to empty a water bucket over his head if he didn't get up. Not that I would really have done it as it was my bed he had slept in.

"Why again did I agree to sleep over at your house instead of coming over at a reasonable hour?" Draco asked me when he finally entered the kitchen at half past five.

"Because you wanted to be the first to wish me a 'happy birthday'. Which you didn't by the way; mum beat you to it. Except, of course, 'Go away and let me sleep' nowadays means 'happy birthday'?" I asked, teasing my friend about not being a morning person.

Draco just groaned in reply as he took his seat at the kitchen table, sweetening his tea to his liking.

"Oh, come on, Draco. It isn't like you didn't wake me up at four last month when it was your birthday. At least the sun is already up," I said, reminding my friend that, when he had woken me up on his birthday, it had taken forty minutes before the sun decided to show herself.

"Someone is very hyper today, isn't he?" my dad asked rhetorically when he entered the kitchen.

"Not as hyper as uncle Sirius on Christmas morning, though," I answered. Really, my godfather could be worse than a five year old on a sugar rush when he was about to get some presents.

"That's true," James answered. "He and Remus should be over soon," he added as he took a scoop of the scrambled eggs from the pan my mother had just placed on the table.

Half an hour later, just as we finished eating breakfast, a black dog raced into the kitchen, hoping into my lap and licking my face with his wet tongue.

"Sirius," Remus called out in a scolding voice. "Can't you behave for a change?" the werewolf asked as he entered the kitchen.

In answer, the dog let out a playful bark, obviously saying, "Why should I?"

Before the situation could escalate though, a tawny owl entered the room through the window my mother had previously opened in anticipation of the mail delivery.

"Let me get my camera out first," the now human again Sirius said before I could open my Hogwarts acceptance letter. "We cannot _not_ capture this moment," he said as he rummaged in his robe pockets.

"Okay, I'm ready," he finally gave his okay a minute later.

And even though Draco had already read his own letter and knew what it said, he still moved closer towards me, our shoulders brushing against each other. And as the adults seemed to be as curious as Draco about what the letter said, I read it out loud.

_**~Dear Mr Potter,** _

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.** _

_**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.** _

_**Yours sincerely,** _

_**Minerva McGonagall ~** _

"Oh, our little Harry, finally growing up and starting Hogwarts," Sirius said with teary eyes.

"At least _Harry_ is growing up," my mother commented, clearly referring to Sirius childish and sometimes bipolar behaviour, which my godfather claimed was his special form of the Black insanity.

"To quote **James Barrie*** , 'If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up!'" my godfather chanted the last part enthusiastically in answer to my mother's jibe.

"More like barking up at a cat in a tree," Severus said dryly, having obviously overheard Sirius last sentence.

The animagus just huffed in answer while Severus walked over towards me and wished me a happy birthday.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Three hours later Draco, Sirius and I were playing a game of Exploding Snap in the living room when the doorbell rang. With it being my birthday, I didn't hesitate to race towards the door to open it. However, my father still reached the door long before me as he had been busy decorating the hallway with balloons for the party in the afternoon.

"Good morning, my Lord," I heard him greet which could only be Lord Slytherin.

"Good morning, James. I hope that I'm not too early?" Tom asked, worrying that I may still be sleeping at nine o'clock.

"Oh, no. Harry had woken us all up at five. So, you're actually rather late," my father joked just as I reached the door.

"Good morning, Lord Slytherin," I happily greeted Tom.

"Good morning, Harry, and happy birthday!" he answered.

"Thank you. Where's Nagini?" I asked him, being a bit sad to not see his snake with him.

"She was still on a hunting trip when I left the manor," he informed me as we entered the house.

"Why don't you show Lord Slytherin your room?" my father suggested, knowing that Tom would want to talk in private with me and not have Draco or Sirius listening in on our talk.

"Okay, dad," I said, not really understanding why he wanted me to do this, but nevertheless, I showed Lord Slytherin the way to my room.

When we entered my room, Tom couldn't help but to look around, not that there was much to see though. Compared to Draco's gigantic room, my bedroom was rather small. Besides some shelves with books and my closet, a king size bed and a writing desk with a swivel chair were the only other pieces of furniture in it.

"I see you still have the toy I gave you as a baby," Tom said with a smile when he saw the big black cuddly toy dog sitting on the floor to the left of my window.

"Ehm...yes," I answered, tousling my hair in embarrassment. While I really loved the big toy as it reminded me of my godfather and also because Tom was the one who gave it to me, most people found it rather childish if an eleven year old still had a little kid's toy. I tried to justify myself by adding, "Draco still has the cuddly toy dragon you gave him, too," pointing at said toy laying on the side of my bed where Draco had slept.

"You don't have to embarrassed about it, Harry," Tom said to me, giving Draco's cuddly toy a look I couldn't discern. If Nagini had been there, she would have said something along the lines of ' _Are we now jealous of a toy, Tom? Or are you angry that the toy shows that another shared Harry's bed?_ ' So, it was a good thing for Tom that he didn't bring her with him.

"I rather like the thought that you kept something I gave you even though some people would say that you're too old for cuddly toys," Tom added as we sat down on my bed.

In bashfulness I moved my hair behind my left ear, baring the lightning bolt earring.

"I really like your earring," he told me as he caressed the mentioned jewellery.

"Thank you, my Lord," I answered, blushing and not knowing just yet that he liked the earring so much because it marked me as his.

"Do you know what the earring symbolises?" Tom asked me.

"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "I only know that I have had it since birth and that it was given to me by a family member, though my father never said which one. I can't even take it off, not that I want to as I really love it," I rambled.

Tom chuckled once before he explained, "In my family it is a tradition that we give our intended a pair of earrings as a symbol for our betrothal. Usually they are a pair of silver snakes but sometimes they also have other forms."

"That is a wonderful gesture," I said, loving the idea that someone would use something like my beloved earring as a symbol of love, just like my mother proudly wore the stag pendant my father gave her for their engagement.

"Yes, it is," he answered, taking out a small blue jewellery box from one of his robe pockets. "For your birthday," he said as he handed over the box.

Gingerly, I opened the box and peered inside.

"You're the one who gave me the earring?" I asked when I saw that the jewellery box contained an earring which was an exact copy of my lightning bolt.

"Yes," he answered, making a gesture with his head that suggested that he was waiting for me to come to another conclusion.

I didn't need long to connect the dots between the earring in my hand and Tom's previous comment about his family tradition. "Does this mean that we're engaged?"

"Yes, Harry, we are. We will marry after you graduate from Hogwarts," he said, anxiously waiting for my reaction to the news—be it positive or negative.

"This means that I won't have to marry a girl, yes?" I asked, speaking slowly, still comprehending the new revelation, but at the same time wanting Tom to clarify his previous statement.

"Yes, you won't," Tom answered calmly, surprised by my question. "Not another male either," he added believing that this would have been my next question.

"Thank Merlin, I won't have to kiss any girls," was my relieved replied. "I had been worried about it ever since I overheard my father argue with Sirius about my future spouse."

"You certainly don't have to worry about that," Tom said, amused by my fear of female lips. He was glad that I seemed to take the news about our engagement rather well and hadn't started to scream at him for not telling me sooner about our engagement or run out of the room because I didn't want to marry him or something else along those lines.

After a pause, Tom asked, "So you are okay that you will marry me once you finish Hogwarts?" He wanted to be sure that I was really comfortable with the idea.

"I knew that I would have to marry someone since the day I was marked," I told him. "I'm just really happy right now that it won't be some random girl I don't even know or like," I truthfully admitted. "So yes, I really don't have a problem with marrying you," I added with a small smile.

While Tom was glad to hear this, the first part still bothered him. After all, I was only glad that he wasn't a random girl and not that it was him in particular who I would marry.

But as I was unaware of his thoughts, I asked, "Will you dance the first dance with me on Saturday? My parents told me that a child dances its opening dance either with a family member or with its future spouse. And when I told them that I want to dance it with Draco, they said that I couldn't. So, I can only assume that they said no because they already knew that I would be dancing with you?" I asked.

"Yes, we will be dancing together. But first, let me put in the second earring," Lord Slytherin suggested and I freely offered the box with the earring to him.

Tom carefully took out the lightning bolt and swept my hair out of the way.

"Thank you, my Lord," I said after he had put the earring in the previously empty piercing I had gotten together with the one in my left ear.

"You can call me Tom in private," he said, not liking that in such an intimate moment I addressed him by his title.

"Okay, Tom," I agreed with a happy smile.

Smiling back at me, Tom said, "Your father and I want to keep our engagement a secret for a while longer, so you cannot tell anyone about it before our dance on Saturday."

"Okay," I easily agreed to the request. "Anything else?" I asked.

"If you want to, you can tell Draco and the rest of your family that you got the earrings from me. Knowing them, they will figure out what they mean, just like you did," he praised me.

"And before you ask, I haven't forgotten my promise that I would pick out a snake for you," Tom said. "I'll take you to Diagon Alley next Tuesday to buy him or her."

"Will you bring Nagini with you then?" I asked, already missing the snake I hadn't seen in three months.

"Of course. It wouldn't be good if the two of them wouldn't get along, would it?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed, happily throwing up my arms into the air. I really loved Nagini and was more than excited to see her again.

"I'll see you on Saturday," Tom said with a last ruffle to my hair before he got up from the bed.

"Won't you stay for cake and the party?" I asked him, wanting him to celebrate with me.

"I would love to, Harry," he began and just as I feared added, "but as Lord Slytherin, I have obligations to fulfil which can't wait for another day. I'm sorry," he said as he left through the door.

When the door closed after him, I let myself fall down on the big bed. _Engaged to Lord_ _Slytherin_ , I thought with a sigh _._

 _No, Tom_ , I corrected immediately.

I really didn't know what I should think about this new revelation. While I wasn't angry or mad about it, I couldn't say that I was overly excited about it either. But then, I had only just turned eleven and marriage wasn't something I had been thinking about.

 _Could I imagine eating dinner and breakfast with Tom every day?_ I asked myself. _Did I want to share secret jokes with Tom and Nagini during some political function or another and live together with them at Slytherin Manor? Would I find dancing in Tom's arms as funny as dancing with Draco had been two years ago?_

The answer to all of those question was a clear yes. So, maybe I should just enjoy my birthday party instead of working myself up over something which I clearly didn't mind at all and should just let it all work itself out on its own when the time comes. It wasn't like I could change it anyway.

Having made my mind up, I got up from the bed and joined Sirius and Draco in the living room, showing off my new earring and just enjoying the rest of the day, celebrating with my friends and family.

Though, I can't deny that when I was lying in my bed later that night, with Draco already fast asleep next to me, one thought crossed my mind. If Tom was my fiancé, had he been the one to insist on my marking four years ago like Sirius had believed? Did it mean that if I had gone to Tom for help and asked him to talk my father out of branding me that he wouldn't have intervened at all?

 _No, I can't think like that,_ I told myself. After all, hadn't Tom said that he liked my lightning bolt earrings? So, maybe he would have been satisfied with the earrings alone and could have lived without me being marked, especially since it was my father's mark and not his.

With that justification I finally closed my eyes, joining Draco in the land of Morpheus.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 3rd August 1991**

To say I was nervous would be an understatement. While I already got an idea how tonight would progress from Draco's introduction to society party, I would be the one in the spotlight tonight. And I really hated to be the centre of attention.

What made me even more nervous was that I would not only dance my first dance with Lord Slytherin, but at the same time, also announce our engagement. I didn't know how the people would react to the news.

Would they be as critical and cruel as Agatha had been two years ago? Or would they welcome the news with open arms, happy that their Lord finally wanted to settle down?

I was especially worried about how aunt Bella would react. About a year ago she had told me that she'd wanted to marry Tom but her advances had been dismissed by him. Would she be angry with me because I got the man she had wanted to marry?

What made it even worse was that the reason why aunt Bellatrix didn't have children of her own was due to an illness of her husband. If she had married Tom, she would have been able to care for her own kids instead of having to make do with spoiling and coddling Draco and I.

Thus, I was glad when Draco entered my room at Malfoy Manor, providing a distraction to my anxious thoughts. Lucius Malfoy had offered my father the use of the Malfoy's ballroom for my introduction to society party and he had accepted.

"The Potter-red really doesn't suit you," Draco said matter-of-factly. "It's a shame that you can't wear the Malfoys' black and green again," he said with a sigh.

We both knew that I wouldn't be able to wear Draco's family colours. What my best friend didn't know though, was that I had already asked my parents if I couldn't wear robes in the Slytherin colours green and silver. Obviously, they said no. Their explanation was interesting though.

My mother, who finally knew about my engagement and had scolded my dad for not telling her sooner about it, said that with the party being held at Malfoy Manor the people could easily assume that I and Draco were engaged as the Malfoy green was nearly identically with the Slytherin house colour.

My father agreed with her, adding that it was important that I didn't say anything about the engagement before the opening dance as they wanted to announce the betrothal with the dance and not any other way.

So, I was forced to wear red robes. But at least this time I didn't need Draco's help to secure the cloak to my shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" Draco asked me as he examined my outfit, trying to find a wrinkle.

"Yes," I answered truthfully. "Though I don't know if I'm more afraid of dancing with Lord Slytherin or giving my speech."

"You don't have to be afraid of dancing," Draco told me. "Just follow Lord Slytherin's lead and you will be alright," my friend advised. "It worked when you danced with me, didn't it?" he added.

"Yes," I answered, feeling less nervous about the dance.

"And if the speech goes wrong, you can always blame Nagini. Knowing you, the snake will coil around you as soon as she sees you," the blond added, his long-standing jealousy obvious.

"Of course, it will be her fault if I stammer or say 'horrored' instead of 'honoured' that they could attend the party," I joked.

"You do know that horrored isn't even a verb," Draco commented. "Besides, I've listened to you practising the speech ten times so, stop worrying!" he commanded.

"You know, you could've always decided to not listen to it," I said with a laugh, my nerves much calmer and muscles less tense now.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Two hours later Draco had been proven correct. I had successfully given my short speech, with Tom having to forcefully remove Nagini from my person so that she couldn't tickle or distract me during the speech. But my blond friend wouldn't be proved correct about the dancing part, at least not completely, as something very unexpected happened during the dinner.

While we were all enjoying the main course, an Auror approached Tom. I could clearly see how both my father's and Tom's face fell as they listened to what the Auror had to say. The only words I did catch were "Greyback" and "attack on Hogsmead", but they were enough to get an idea what the emergency was about.

"I'm sorry, James," Tom said loud enough for me to hear. "But I really have to go. Taking Lucius with me should be enough, so enjoy your son's party."

"I understand, my Lord. The lives of the people in Hogsmead are more important than a silly dance," my father answered.

"Take care of Nagini, Harry," Tom said to me in passing as he walked passed me, my mother, Severus, and Draco to reach Lucius' place at the end of the main table.

While I was sadden that Tom wouldn't be able to dance with me, I could also understand that Tom really hadn't wanted to leave me. Now though, I was missing a dance partner, so I asked my dad, "Should I ask Draco to step in for the first dance?"

"That would be the best alternative. Make it inconspicuously though," he whispered back, as about ten of the off-duty Auror guests also left because they wanted to help their comrades. The Lestranges brothers were among them seeing as they were part of the elite Auror unit.

When I had finished the main course and saw that Draco was finished with his meal too, I got up from the table and walked towards the bathrooms, hoping that Draco had noticed my sign to follow me. But I shouldn't have worried, as half a minute later my friend joined me in the bathroom.

"What is wrong?" he asked me.

"As far as I've gathered from the snippets I've caught, Greyback attacked Hogsmead," I said.

"That's horrible," was all Draco could say.

"It is. It really angers me that he has to attack when my parents are hosting a party. First when we were young he crashed the Halloween party and now my introduction to society party," I said, resting my arms on the sink in front of me.

"But you didn't ask me to follow you to just tell me this," Draco said.

"Yeah," I answered. "I wanted to ask if you would mind pitching in for the first dance? As you've noticed he can't dance with me anymore," I said, nervously playing with the hem of my dress shirt.

"Of course I wouldn't mind dancing with you, Harry," my friend immediately answered. "Even though your red robes will clash horribly with my green ones," he added, making me laugh and relax again. Trust Draco to be able to cheer me up. I hadn't even realised how disappointed I had been that Tom wouldn't be dancing with me.

"Come on, Harry. Let's go back before all of my ice cream has melted," Draco said as he dragged my back towards the dining room where the desert had already been served.

And while I was still a bit down about Tom's unexpected departure, Draco made sure that I not only enjoyed dancing with him but also the rest of the night. I didn't say a word about my betrothal to Tom though as without the dance to announce my and Tom's engagement I had a feeling that they didn't me to say anything about it. And even when I overheard someone gossiping that I and Draco could be engaged, I still kept my silence, giving Nagini another loving caress.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Tuesday, 6th August 1991, Diagon Alley**

Diagon Alley―the famous and popular shopping street of wizarding London. I had been there with my parents so many times over the years that it lost its charm long ago. But today, it was like I was seeing the street for the first time all over again.

The reason? It was not only my first Hogwarts' shopping trip, something I was very excited about, but also the ones to accompany me were Tom and Nagini, and only them; my father had to work and while my mother had wanted to come with us, she had been called away before breakfast due to an emergency at the Ministry.

So, instead of meeting Tom with my mum in Diagon Alley, Lord Slytherin had taken the Floo to my house and Side-Along-Apparated us just around the corner of Gringotts. And somehow the wizarding bank with its light stone facade looked more magnificent than usual.

"Your father insisted that we use the money from your school-trust-fund for today's expanses," Tom offered as an explanation as he led me into Gringotts.

My feeling that he had wanted to pay for my purchases with his own money was confirmed when he reluctantly demanded us to be brought to my trust-fund. After a two minute ride through the underground of the bank, we finally reached my vault. While I was telling Tom how much fun I had during the ride, Nagini was loudly complaining about goblins and their unfit methods of transportation.

"Here we are," our goblin guide announced as he opened the door of my vault.

"That's only for my time at Hogwarts?" I asked when I saw the mountain of Galleons.

"It is," Tom answered, not the slightest bit impressed by all the money.

"That's just...Wow," I said, being nearly speechless. I couldn't believe that all of it was mine.

Having calmed down, I finally asked, "How much do we need?" being unsure how expensive my school supplies would be.

"One hundred and fifty Galleons should be more than enough," Tom said after he estimated the costs. "Especially with Severus having already gotten your Potions supplies," he added, making me feel like the Potions stuff I and Draco got for our birthdays had cost about fifty Galleons or even more. And knowing uncle Severus and his love for good quality ingredients and equipment, I wouldn't be surprised if he had paid nearly one hundred Galleons for our presents.

"Okay," I answered, a bit surprised at how expensive the initial equipment was.

Luckily my parents had arranged that if I opened my money bag and said "I want to take out one hundred and fifty Galleons," the mentioned amount would automatically move into the open bag. Thus, I didn't spend minutes on counting out the sum Tom had calculated.

When we reached the main hall of the Gringotts, Nagini was once again complaining about goblins and their lack of elegant and smooth transportation. However, I wasn't paying any attention to her as I tried to decide where we should go first.

Getting my own snake was at the top of my list. Nagini, unfortunately, wasn't in a friendly and amiable mood and would surely find a reason to dislike any of the snakes we saw. So, I told Tom that I wanted to get my robes first in the hope that while I was fitted Nagini would calm down.

"An unusual first stop," Tom commented as we walked towards Madam Malkin's.

"Nagni doesn't seem too social right now so the Menagerie has to wait," I said. "Besides, it will be nice to have the robes out of the way."

"You don't like Madam Malkin?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, no. She's alright, I guess," I told him with a shrug of my shoulder. "I just don't like how long it takes for the clothes to be fitted and having to stand still for so long."

"Ah," Lord Slytherin replied in understanding as he opened the shop door for me.

"Welcome. Hogwarts too, my dear?" the shop owner greeted us, or me.

"Yes," Tom and I answered simultaneously.

"Come over here then," she said, surprisingly ignoring Lord Slytherin, who was standing right next to me, and only having eyes for me as she guided me towards the adjusting area.

"Finally," I groaned out over an hour later as we left the shop.

"See it positive, Harry. At least now we only have the enjoyable things to get, like your snake," Tom said to cheer me up again.

"Come on," I said as I grabbed Tom's hand and dragged him and Nagini towards the Magical Menagerie.

Tom just laughed in amusement as he let me drag him towards the shop.

When we entered the pet shop, some of the smaller animals tried to hid as much as their cages allowed out of fear of Nagini.

"Lord Slytherin," we were greeted by the manager of the shop. "How can I help you?" he asked, eager to please his Lord.

"We're in search for a snake for Harry," he said, guiding me a step forward with his right hand on my back.

"If you would please follow me," the owner said, leading us towards a back room with about twenty terrariums which housed not only snakes but also an iguana or two.

"Thank you, we'll pick out a snake on our own. _Won't we, Nagini?_ " Tom dismissed the owner with an obvious reminder of his Parseltongue ability, wanting some privacy as we picked out my snake.

"Of course, my Lord," was all the salesclerk said before he left us to our own devises.

As the terrariums were constructed of two aisles, Tom and I decided to split up and pursue one aisle each. Looking around the terrariums in my path I saw a green anaconda, a green tree python, a black mamba and a king cobra.

" _Another idiot to stare at us,_ " the black mamba said when I was in front of its glass cage. I wondered why he called me an idiot. _Hadn't he heard how Tom spoke to Nagini?_ I thought, deciding that I wouldn't take this one.

A bit put off by its remark, together with my bad mood from Madame Malkin's, I couldn't help but to tell the snake, " _And you will be stared at for a while longer,"_ before walking towards the next terrarium.

"How about this one, Harry?" Tom asked me from the other aisle before I could take a closer look at the tree python.

Going over to Tom, I saw that he was looking at a snake which was only about one metre long but its marking and colouring looked very similar to Nagini's.

" _Hello,_ " the snake greeted me. " _Nagini told me that you're a very special child_ ," the snake added before I could greet it back.

" _Hello,_ " I finally greeted the snake, surprised that Nagini seemed to already like the snake. _Maybe it was because they were of the same species?_ I mused.

" _How are you?_ " I asked, not knowing what else to say.

" _I'm fine. I would be better though if I could get out of here and stretch out my body. This place will be too small in a year or two,"_ the snake answered, clearly wanting to leave his glass prison.

" _Just take him with you, little one,"_ Nagini demanded, having moved her head from Tom's shoulder towards my face. It was obvious that she wanted to spend more time with the snake in front of us.

With a chuckle Tom chided her, " _It's Harry's decision, and not yours, which snake he wants to take."_

" _Would you want to go to Hogwarts with me?_ " I asked. While I still hadn't decided if I would get him, I couldn't say that I didn't like his colouring. His attitude was also much better than that of the black mamba I met before.

" _It depends. Will I get some tasty rats and rabbits there?"_ the snake asked.

" _Ehm...Yes,"_ I answered, not knowing if it was true, but then I could always ask Severus if he could buy me a rat or two when he goes out of the castle to get some new potions ingredients.

" _Then I would happily come with you."_

" _You can't bite any of the students or teachers though,"_ I added, only now remembering that Nagini and this snake were very lethal creatures.

" _As long as they don't attack you or me, this won't be a problem,_ " he said.

"I'll take this one," I said to Tom, slipping out of speaking Parseltongue when I stopped looking at the snakes.

"Are you sure?" he asked me in English.

"Yes," I answered. "He seems very friendly. Besides, I'm sure that Nagini will dislike any other snake in here out of principle anyway," I added.

"That's true," Tom answered with a smirk.

" _Do you have a name?_ " I asked the snake, slipping back into Parseltongue as I once again was facing the snake.

" _No, not yet,"_ he answered.

" _How about_ _ **Nagijan***_ _?"_ I asked, remembering the name I had come up with some days ago.

" _After Nagini?_ " he asked back.

" _Yes,"_ I admitted, a bit embarrassed that I wanted to name my snake after Tom's. _"You can have another name if you don't like it,"_ I added.

" _No, I like Nagijan very much,_ " the newly named Nagijan answered, as he climbed up my arm to coil around my shoulders. Tom had already pulled out his wand to cancel the spells on the terrarium so that I could open the lid and Nagijan could move out of his prison.

"Let's go to the counter then," Lord Slytherin said.

"We're taking this one," Tom informed the owner of the Menagerie, offhandedly pointing towards the snake coiled around me.

"Ehm...well...yes...That will be thirty-six Galleons, nine Sickles and twenty-two Knuts," he finally stammered out. Apparently, he was spooked by the sight of a very dangerous snake so leisurely lying around an eleven year old's neck. Which was very funny considering that he didn't seem to mind Nagini being draped around Tom.

After Tom handed over the mentioned amount, we walked out of the Magical Menagerie and crossed the street to get my books from Flourish and Blotts, before it was time for our last stop, Ollivanders.

"Ah, Mr Potter and Lord Slytherin," the old wandmaker greeted us when we entered his shop. "Yew, thirteen and one half inches long with a Phoenix feather core," he said to Tom, making it seem like he couldn't greet anyone properly without rattling off the facts about the wand he sold them.

"Try out this one," Mr Ollivander said to me as he handed me a wand made of cedar and unicorn hair after he had taken my measures.

Both Nagijan and I were startled when the shelf to our right exploded.

"Not this one then. How about this," Ollivander said, handling over the next wand while Tom repaired the shelf with a flick of his wand.

After ten more wands which didn't match, Ollivander gave Tom and I a searching glance, taking in our mathcing looks, black hair, dark green robes and our snakes coiled around us and walked towards the back of his shop, muttering, "Maybe...Hmm, yes that could be it..."

Two minutes later he finally came back to the front and presented me another wand in a dusty box, "Eleven inches of finest holly," he said.

Taking out the wand, I felt an immediate connection. The wand felt like it warmed under my touch and began to hum.

"Try it," the wandmaker encouraged me.

And for the first time in fifteen minutes, instead of something breaking or exploding, the wand let out colourful sparks.

"Interesting, very interesting," Ollivander mumbled so low under his breath that I was barely able to catch what he said. "How very interesting, indeed that you, Mr Potter, would be the one to wield the brother wand of Lord Slytherin," he finally explained his previous mumble to us as someone opened the shop's door making the bell chime.

"Ah, there you are, Harry," said a coarse voice coming from a man who was over eleven feet tall and was poking his head through the door as he was too tall to enter. "I've been searching for you," he added.

Unsure, I looked at Tom, seeking his advice on how I should react to this unknown big man. It unsettled me that he knew my name while I didn't even remember having seen his face anywhere.

"Let's pay for your wand first, then we'll see what Hagrid wants," Tom said, leading me towards the counter, obviously not happy to see the half-giant.

"That will be seven Galleons," Mr Ollivander said.

After paying, we walked out of the shop to see what Hagrid, as Tom had called him, wanted from me.

"Hello, Harry, Tom," the man greeted us with a nod.

I could see how much Tom disliked to be called by his given name, which I could completely understand. After all, he was the Lord of wizarding Britain and should at least be called by his last name, if not addressed by his title in public. Therefore, I wasn't surprised by Tom's unfriendly and harsh, "What do you want?"

"Oh, yeah..." the big man began. "Dumbledore sent me here to give Harry a belated birthday present," he said, holding out a cage with a beautiful snowy owl in it. "Great man, Dumbledore. He remembered that some years ago you said that you wanted to bring a pet to Hogwarts but the one you had in mind doesn't agree with the rules, so he asked me to pick out a nice owl for you," he explained, holding out the cage towards me.

While I couldn't deny that the owl was really gorgeous and I would love to call her my own, my parents had told me to not accept a sweet or anything else from a stranger. I also didn't want to risk being able to go shopping with Tom again by angering my parents with taking home the owl.

For the second time in five minutes, I looked at Tom for guidance. And, to my great surprise, he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. _Maybe he had used Legilimency on me?_ I wondered as Tom handled Hagrid.

"As you can see, I already got Harry a pet," Lord Slytherin said, pointing at Nagijan who hissed at Hagrid.

"But Headmaster Dumbledore explicitly said that snakes aren't allowed at Hogwarts," Hagrid interrupted him, repeating the reminder Dumbledore must have given him this morning.

"And neither are Acromantulas," Tom immediately replied, making me wonder why he was bringing up dangerous spiders. "And I've already told the headmaster that Harry has my expressive permission to bring a snake.

"But nevertheless, I'm sure that Harry would love to accept the owl you picked out for him. wouldn't you, Harry?" Tom added to my relief. For a moment, I had feared that Tom would deny me the owl.

"Yes," I said with an enthusiastic nod, happily taking the cage with the snowy owl, now that I knew that it would be okay for me to accept the gift.

"Thank you," I said after a short pause to pet the owl through the bars. My mother would have scolded me if I didn't at least thank the person who gave me such a wonderful present. "And also pass on my thanks to the headmaster," I added as an afterthought.

"I will," was Hagrid's short answer. He seemed to at least be happy that I loved the owl he chose for me.

"The owl really is beautiful," I commented, as the snowy owl playfully nipped my index finger.

"That she is," Hagrid agreed. "Do you already have a name for her?" he asked.

As I hadn't known her gender before, I needed a moment to come up with a name. "Hedwig." I finally decided, naming her after the German witch who invented the first flying broom and was also well known for her very pale complexion and even paler hair. Thus, naming the snowy owl after the equally pale witch, and also because I had just gotten her Chocolate Frog Card this morning.

"She likes it," Hagrid said. "I have to go though. See you at Hogwarts, Harry," Hagrid bid in farewell before he took his leave.

"How about we go to Fortescue's before we head back?" Tom asked and I happily agreed.

When we arrived, I saw that Fortescue had a special "Alice in Wonderland week" where he had created ten new ice cream flavours, all named after characters of the Muggle book.

The two of us decided to not brave tasting _The Mock Turtle_ as it consisted of vanilla ice cream with Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. Instead I chose to try out _The Mad Hatter_ which was made of chocolate chip ice cream and Acid Pops. Tom, on the other hand, chose _The Cheshire Cat_ , a mix of chocolate ice cream with Pepper Imps.

" _How can you two eat something which is so sweet?"_ Nagijan asked when he smelled the sundae in front of me as we walked towards one of the free tables.

" _Unlike us, humans have a sweet tongue,"_ Nagini explained from Tom's shoulder. " _You'll get used to it."_

" _As long as I don't have to eat it,"_ Nagijan replied before resting his head back onto my shoulder. I just shook my head while Tom smiled softly.

"Mhmm," I moaned after I took a first bite. I loved how the Acid Pops prickled in my mouth and mixed with the melting chocolate.

"I'm glad that you like your ice cream," Tom commented with a smile.

I smiled back and eyeing Tom's sundae asked, "How's yours?"

"It's good. Do you want to have a taste?" he surprisingly asked me.

"Thank you," I said as I took a small scoop with my spoon from his portion. "It's good, but a bit too much chocolate for my taste," I commented.

"Don't you like chocolate?" Tom asked, wondering about my comment as kids usually loved chocolate.

"Oh, no. I like chocolate just fine. In ice cream though, I prefer it to be in chunks and not splashed with milk," I explained my dislike of chocolate ice cream.

When we finished our sundaes, Tom took Hedwig's cage into his right hand and my hand into his left one and walked us to the nearest Apparation Point to return to Slytherin Manor where I would be staying for a whole week so that Tom could help me get to know my new snake as he explained my extended stay to my parents.

In truth though, he just wanted to spend some time with me so that we could get to know each other better. After all, being a Parselmonth I was perfectly capable of getting to know Nagijan on my own.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 7th August 1991**

"Have you already read today's _Prophet_?" Severus asked Lord Slytherin, when the two met for a talk a day after my and Tom's trip to Diagon Alley.

"No, I didn't have the time yet," Tom answered. "Harry had been talking non-stop during breakfast about his new snake Nagijan. So, I hadn't even thought about picking up the paper. Should I read it?"

"It would be advisable," Severus dryly replied.

"Wipsy," Tom called out and the mentioned house-elf appeared. "Bring me today's _Prophet_."

Not a second later, the elf returned and handed over the newspaper. Tom only needed to take a look at the headline of the first page to see why Severus wanted him to read it.

_**~Harry James Potter – The new heartbreaker?** _

_**By Rita Skeeter** _

_**He is just about to enter Hogwarts this coming September and already he seems to have caught the interest of two influential people. I'm talking about none other than Harry James Potter, son of Lord Slytherin's second in-command James Potter, and a rare Foreas (for more information see page 5).** _

_**The list of Mr Potter's possible future husbands does include both Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family and son of Lord Slytherin's first in-command Lucius Malfoy, and―who would believe it―Lord Slytherin himself. While neither party has confirmed an engagement to the young Mr Potter, there are still many signs for both of their interest.** _

_**Draco Malfoy did not only share his own introduction to society opening dance with Mr Potter, but he also was the one who lead Harry to the dance floor a week ago during the brunet's own party (see right picture). And, my dear readers, we all know that often the child is dancing its opening dance with their future spouse, don't we?** _

_**However, one of the guests of Mr Potter's party told me that they overheard that Mr Malfoy wasn't Harry's first choice of dance partner. Apparently he was only a substitution for Harry's original dance partner, who had to cancel at the last minute. Thus, it is self-evident to assume that it was one of the single men which had been called away from the party due to Greyback's attack on Hogsmead, as none other guests had cancelled their presence at the party so abruptly. Which brings me to Harry's other suitor, our beloved Lord Slytherin.** _

_**It didn't stay unnoticed that whenever Lord Slytherin and Harry attend the same social gathering, the two of them are always sitting close to each other so that Lord Slytherin can 'keep an eye on his snake Nagini', as he officially says. Another, more saying indication for our Lord's interest in the young Mr Potter is that Harry wears two earrings. It can't be coincident that Harry was seen with the second earring for the first time during his introduction party.** _

_**I am sure that, if the attack hadn't happened, Lord Slytherin would have been the one to lead Harry to his first dance and afterwards would have officially announced their engagement. Though, the strongest indication that Lord Slytherin is already the lucky one who had caught Harry for himself is his lack of denial. There hasn't been a case before where Lord Slytherin hadn't promptly ended any rumours regarding an engagement or potential love-interest of his.** _

_**Therefore, this author believes that our Lord has finally found someone who he wants to marry. Though, we hope that he will be patient enough for Harry to grow up before he makes any advances on the young, impressive boy. But currently, we don't have to worry about our beloved Lord taking advantage of Mr Potter if yesterday is any indication.** _

_**Then, Lord Slytherin and Harry were seen in Diagon Alley obviously on the child's first Hogwarts shopping trip, something which is usually done with the child's family. Besides the obligatory trip to Flourish and Blotts, Ollivanders and Madam Malkin's, they also went to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, where our Lord even let Harry taste his ice cream (see left picture).** _

_**Another interesting stop on their shopping trip was the Magical Menagerie, where Lord Slytherin picked out a snake for Harry. It is remarkable that he picked out a snake of the same species as Nagini for the young boy. It makes us wonder why he chose such a highly dangerous snake for an eleven year old, who, unlike him, hasn't the help of speaking Parseltongue to keep the snake in line. After all, our Lord's own familiar is known to be extremely poisonous besides being a deadly constrictor.** _

_**However, the snake wasn't the only living present Harry got. I was fortunate enough to witness how Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, gifted young Mr Potter with a snowy owl handed out by the gameskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Apparently, the headmaster had already previously voiced his disagreement of Harry bringing a snake with him to Hogwarts even though Lord Slytherin had given his explicit permission as a founder's heir.** _

_**However, one has to wonder why Albus Dumbledore decided to appease Mr Potter with another approved animal. After all, it was just four years ago when Gregory Giles had been denied to bring his iguana to school and Dumbledore hadn't given him a compensation, had he? So, it seems like that not only Lord Slytherin and the Malfoy family are interested in the young Mr Potter, but also Albus Dumbledore.** _

_**All in all, with Harry being a rare Foreas, the son of the greatly respected James Potter and, to top it off, having so many influential and important people showing an interest for him, we at the Daily Prophet are sure that Harry Potter has a great future before him and will break many a man's heart.~** _

"And that's why I wanted to keep the engagement secret," Tom finally said when he finished reading. "While Skeeter hasn't directly called me a paedophile, she still planted the seed of doubt in her readers' mind," he added, referring to the middle of the article.

"Yes, I was surprised that someone like Skeeter had been able to write something so subtle," Severus commented. "We can only hope that she will continue to not make any direct accusations about you taking advantage of Harry," the Potions master said.

"However, I had assumed that you wanted to keep your engagement a secret because of Dumbledore and not because you feared what one journalist would say," Severus added.

"You're not wrong. But, I believe that we both know that Dumbledore already knows about my interest in Harry. Besides, I feel better now that Harry knows about our engagement. This way he can get used to the idea," Tom answered.

"And as Harry isn't an Occlumence like us, it would only have been a matter of time until Dumbledore would have found it out from Harry. So, I see no reason to hide my intentions any longer," Lord Slytherin explained.

"That's also why you decided to go Hogwarts shopping with him without his parents instead of making an official statement?" Severus asked rhetorically. "Though, I have to say that I'm surprised at your choice of snake for Harry," Severus said, picking up on another comment of the newspaper article.

"Ah, yes," Tom said, before he took a sip of his coffee. "If you remember what Dumbledore said two years ago about snakes being able to strangle people to death or poison them, I had actually considered getting a Basilisk from Knockturn for Harry. After all, opposed to all the other snake races, it can kill with a glance," Tom told Severus about the idea he had to spit directly in Dumbledore's face but in the end had decided against it. If necessary, he could always tell me about the Basilisk who currently resided in the Chamber of Secrets.

Severus wisely decided to not comment on the Basilisk, instead he changed the topic. "By the way, how is Harry getting along with... _Nagijan,_ you said?" the Potions master asked, correctly remembering the name I gave my new snake.

"They're already inseparable," Tom answered with a smile, fondly remembering the sight he saw when he checked up on me the previous night. I had been sleeping in the bed with Nagijan resting next to my head, sharing one pillow.

And as to prove Tom's point, I chose this moment to knock on the study door and entered the room after Tom called out his permission with Nagijan securely coiled around my shoulders and Nagini following after us, ending the adults' discussion as I proudly showed Nagijan off to my godfather.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And this is how I finally knew that I would marry Tom after I graduated Hogwarts. Though, the news paled in comparison to getting both of my pets―my owl Hedwig and my snake Nagijan. But then, I had the animals with me now, while the impending marriage was still years away. So I, of course, was more interested in getting to know my new pets than thinking about my wedding or what being the future consort of Lord Slytherin would mean for the rest of my life―besides not having to kiss any girls.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**James Barrie:** The author of Peter Pan.

 **150 Galleons** : equals 750 ₤.

 **Nagijan:** The name is inspired by Nagini's name. The Hindu call the Female Snake God Nagarani and the Male God Nagarajan. So I modelled Nagijan after Nagini.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** The next chapter will be taking a bit longer again as exams are approaching and I really need to work on my other story. Sorry, but this chapter was extra long to make up for it.

And if anyone knows how expansive schoolbooks and uniforms are in the UK, fell free to tell me.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **AN:** Thank you for participating in the poll. You can see the result in this chapter. And sorry for the delay, I had to study for my exams besides real life keeping me busy.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 7 -~-~-**

What are the characteristics of a good consort of a powerful lord? It is to be brave at heart, daring, and chivalrous like Gryffindors? It is to be just, loyal, and unafraid of hard work like the students of Hufflepuff? Or maybe it is to be cunning and not hesitating from using any means necessary to achieve your aims like Slytherins are said to be? Or do they need to be intelligent and witty like a true Ravenclaw?

Who knows? It isn't like many people are only considered for one of Hogwarts' four houses, as the majority show characteristic of two, if not all, of the houses. So, you can't say if Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin or Ravenclaw is the house for the perfect consort, can you?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 1st September 1991**

I can still clearly remember the day I started Hogwarts. Unlike the previous week where it had rained daily, the first of September was a warm and sunny day making me feel like I was going on a second summer vacation with my friends.

My parents decided that we would have breakfast in a nice little restaurant in a side street of Diagon Alley, where we met up with Sirius and Remus. From there we walked through the Leaky Cauldron towards Muggle London to take a cab to King's Cross station.

While we could easily have taken the Floo to Platform 9 ¾, mum and dad insisted that entering the platform through the barrier is as much a part of starting Hogwarts as the Sorting is. While I couldn't deny that the sigh of the red steaming engine impressed me, I was more concerned about finding Draco in the mass of people.

Fortunately for me, Lucius Malfoy, with his tall frame and white blonde hair, stood out in a crowd. Not letting the head of the Malfoy patriarch out of my sight, I dragged my mother and the Marauders towards where Draco should be.

"Harry," Draco happily greeted me. "I feared that you overslept and then wouldn't arrive in time," he continued, not giving me the chance to greet him back. "I already tried to talk dad into Flooing over to your house to see what was holding you up."

"Hello, to you too," I said when my friend finally paused. "We took a cab from the Leaky Cauldron and were held up a bit by the morning rush," I explained. "But really, just because we're ten minutes late you do not have to send a search party after us," I joked.

"Come boys, it's time to say your goodbyes," Lucius Malfoy said when he noticed that the train would leave in twenty minutes. With all the people there to see us off, it would easily take fifteen minutes before everyone had bid their farewell.

"Have fun, Harry," Sirius said. "Try to not break too many hearts," he added, referring to Skeeter's article in August. "And most importantly, make good use of the map I gave you," he said with a wink.

"Don't listen to what he says," Remus butted in. "Just use the map to not get lost during your first weeks and _not_ to land in detention on the first week of school," the werewolf said, repeating the words my father used when he and his two friends gave me the Marauder's Map. Though, my father had also added that after I became familiar with the short-cuts, I should use the map for pranking.

"And don't forget to write to us," Sirius said, his voice making it clear that he wanted to hear all about the pranks he wished I'd pull on my classmates.

"I will," I promised them.

"Goodbye, Harry," they said and gave me a big hug each.

"Won't you say goodbye to your favourite aunt?" Bellatrix asked, as she swept me in a tight hug of her own, mindful of Nagijan who was sleeping on my left shoulder.

I was really happy that a few days ago I had had the chance to spend some time alone with her where she'd told me that she wasn't angry or jealous about my engagement to Lord Slytherin. She insisted that, even without having children of her own, she was very happy with her husband and wouldn't give it up for anything. She made me promise though, that I would name her the godmother of my child, which I readily agreed to without really thinking about it or what it entailed. But then, she was a very good godmother to Draco, so why shouldn't she be the godmother of another child?

Bellatrix was followed by her husband and her two brothers-in-law as well as her sister Narcissa.

Finally, it was my parents' turn to say goodbye. Like Sirius, they reminded me to write to them and once again emphasised that it wouldn't matter to them which house I would be sorted into. My mother added that regardless of my future house, I could always go to Severus if I needed help.

With eight minutes to spare, Draco and I finally entered the Hogwarts Express and went in search for a free compartment.

Having found a free one in the middle of the train, we looked out of the window to let our family know that we found a place to sit and waved at them when the train left the station.

Ten minutes into the ride, our compartment door was opened by a bushy-haired witch who introduced herself as Hermione Granger and asked if we'd seen a toad.

Before we could decline, a familiar voice greeted, "Hi, Harry, Draco," and we saw Neville stepping out from behind Hermione.

"Hi, Neville," we greeted back.

"You lost Trevor?" Draco asked.

"Yes," our childhood friend admitted. "He escaped when I was opening the door to the next wagon."

"Have you at least found a compartment?" I asked. Knowing my old friend, he had been so worried about finding his toad that he hadn't bothered to get himself a place to sit.

"Not yet," Neville answered as expected.

"If you want to, you can join us here after you found your toad," I offered. "You too, Hermione," I added, including the witch who was kind enough to help out Neville.

"Thank you," they both said, grateful to have somewhere to stay.

"Make sure to not let him escape again, though. Less he ends up as Nagijan's lunch," Draco added, pointing at the sleeping snake on my shoulder.

"Now, I remember where I saw your faces," Hermione said when she finally noticed the snake. "You're the one who was in the Daily Prophet last month," she said to me and moving her head towards Draco, she added "And your one of his supposed fiancés."

"Supposed is the key word," Draco answered, annoyed. When he'd read the article about our supposed engagement, he had written me a letter ranting about all the rubbish Skeeter wrote.

While Draco's letter was fun to read, I couldn't blame the press for their assumptions. Like Skeeter said, it was suspicious that Draco and I danced our first official dances with each other. And if Draco hadn't been there when Tom gave me the second earring, I'm sure that he too wouldn't have figured out that I was already engaged to Lord Slytherin.

"We're just friends," I added to prevent Hermione from asking Draco further questions about it. It wouldn't do any good to get my blond friend worked up and start another rant.

When she still seemed to be unsatisfied by our answer, I said "Good luck with finding Trevor," to get her to leave the compartment. For now.

"Let's hope that it will be a while before they find the toad," Draco said, after Hermione and Neville had moved on to the next compartment. I just hummed in agreement.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

By the time Draco and I walked together into the Great Hall, we had come to the conclusion that Hermione wasn't so bad after all. As long as she stayed clear of the whole topic of my supposed engagement, she was easy to get along with. Draco and I agreed that it was very interesting to see how a Muggle-born saw our world.

Hermione on the other hand had been glad to hear that while my mother was also a Muggle-born, it now wasn't noticeable at all that she hadn't grown up in the Wizarding world. Although, she could also have been relieved to hear that my mother had been one of the best students in her year even though she had been new to it all. Knowing her, it was probably the later.

I was surprised when Neville was sorted into Gryffindor. When we'd talked during the train ride about which house we would end up in, even Neville had said that he would go to Hufflepuff. Draco's sorting into Slytherin was expected, as well as Hermione being sorted into Ravenclaw. And then it was finally my turn to put on the Sorting Hat.

"Interesting, very interesting," I heard a voice say in my head. "I see bravery and a love for books but there's also the wish to prove yourself..." the voice went on. "Hmm...yes...I believe that with what your role in life will be you should better be in ' **Slytherin!'** " the hat finally shouted out for everyone to hear.

Taking off the hat, I smiled at my godfather, who smiled back, before I walked over to where Draco was clapping loudly for me along with the rest of Slytherin house. Sitting down next to him, we watch how the remaining students were sorted and then enjoyed our first Hogwarts meal, unaware of the blue eyes which watched us throughout the meal.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Forget it!" Blaise Zabini yelled right after Severus announced the room arrangement for the new Slytherin students. "There's no way in hell that I'll sleep in a room with Potter!" he yelled as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Mr Zabini," Severus said authoritatively. "This is a boarding school where students share a dorm with other people. I'm sure that your mother already informed you about this."

"I know," Blaise answered, his voice calmer now. "It isn't sharing a dorm which is the problem, it's Potter," he explained.

 _Me?_ I wondered. _Why does he have a problem with me? It's not like we know each other,_ I thought, looking questioningly at Draco, who only shrugged his shoulders in answer, not knowing what Zabini's problem was either.

"And why, pray tell, do you have a problem with him?" Severus asked, starting to get annoyed, especially since Blaise was attacking one of his beloved godsons.

"It's not him in particular, it's his snake. I don't want to sleep in the same room as a very perilous reptile," Blaise finally admitted.

Severus groaned when he heard the explanation. He had put Blaise and me in the same dormitory because we were both Foreas and the other first-year boys in the second, larger dormitory.

"I'll switch with Zabini," Draco offered to solve the issue. "Unlike him, I'm not afraid of Nagijan," he said proudly bordering to arrogance and even petted Nagijan for emphasis.

To my right, I heard Parkinson whisper to the other girls that it was a shame that a Slytherin was afraid of a snake, to which Nott answered that he wanted to see her petting Nagijan.

He just laughed when he saw her horrified face at the suggestion. It seemed like Blaise wasn't the only Slytherin who feared his house mascot.

After letting out a long sigh, Severus finally announced, "Malfoy can switch with Zabini for tonight. I'll talk with the headmaster about an alternative arrangement tomorrow." And with this, he dismissed us for the night, making me and Draco happy that we would have a room to ourselves.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And while Draco and I were getting ready for bed, Severus was already getting a headache. He feared that the talk with Dumbledore the next day wouldn't go well. After the headmaster had openly announced that he didn't want Harry to bring a snake to Hogwarts, said snake was now the reason why the two Foreas weren't separated from the other boys.

Severus knew that he couldn't separate Nagijan and I. Not only because I would be very sad and angry about it, but also because Lord Slytherin would have his hide for it. So, as long as Zabini was afraid of Nagijan he couldn't put us in the same dorm.

The current solution wouldn't work in the long run either. While Lord Slytherin hadn't said anything about Draco and I sharing a bed when he visited me on my birthday, Severus knew that even if we were now sleeping in our own beds, Tom would only tolerate this sleeping arrangement until I reached fertility.

While the usual gender separation between boys and girls started with them turning seven, boys and Foreas were only separated while sleeping when they started Hogwarts. In other aspects of their lives though, like sports or change rooms, the Foreas were not differentiated from the other boys.

The reason behind this separation was that while Foreas on the outside had the same body structure like any other male—so nothing to watch there, they still could get impregnated by their male peers. Therefore, to avoid unwanted sexual advances or rumours, they had separate dormitories. Though, as long as the Foreas was still infertile, the Wizarding world tended to turn a blind eye if a Foreas and a male slept in the same room even after they started Hogwarts. As Foreas usually became fertile when they were around thirteen this left Severus with only about two years to find a solution for the current dilemma.

The easiest solution, of course, would be to give Blaise and me separate rooms, but all houses had only fifteen dormitories—seven for the boys, seven for the girls and one for the Foreas. The later not being divided according to their year but just crammed into one dorm as there rarely was more than one Foreas in each house.

Knowing Dumbledore as he did, my godfather knew the headmaster wouldn't allow him to just relocate either Blaise or me into one of the other Foreas dorms or into one of the guest rooms Hogwarts had, saying something about them being reserved for the guest and not for the students and that we were sorted into Slytherin and not Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Of course, Severus could have me live with him in his quarters, but with him being male and unattached, it would be the same as if I continued to share a dorm with Draco. Which brought him back to where he began... It really would be a long talk tomorrow and he feared that he wouldn't like the result at all, especially if afterwards he would have to inform lord Slytherin about the problem.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Monday, 2nd September 1991**

Draco and I were just sitting down for breakfast when a swarm of owls darkened the ceiling. The majority of them were either delivering the Prophet or carried the typical 'Congratulation that you're in …' from the family to the first-years.

I got congratulation letters from my parents, Sirius and Tom. While my parents' letter was the usual 'we're proud of you'-letter every parent seemed to write, Sirius was complaining that I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor, coming up with at least ten different possibilities of who was to blame for this. Since some of his assumptions were really funny, I read part of the letter out loud to Draco.

_**~I can't believe that the hat placed you in Slytherin. Surely it isn't working properly anymore due to its old age, or it would have put you in Gryffindor. The only reason that I can think of that it sorted you into Slytherin is that it must have confused you with Nagijan and couldn't do anything else but to sort it into the house of snakes.~** _

Draco chuckled at that theory, but couldn't help but to add, "You know, he could be right about this. The hat sat so low on your head that it nearly touched Nagijan's head, so it could have mixed up the two of you."

"Very funny, Draco", I answered not amused about him making fun of my petite frame, so I decided to read on to stop the blond from making another comment.

_**~Though, I wouldn't put it past Severus that he bribed the hat to put you in his house. Or maybe your fiancé has done something so that you landed in the house he's Lord of. Of course, you could also have spent too much time with Draco for his house affinity to be transferred to you.~** _

"He sounds like being sorted into Slytherin is a highly infectious disease," Draco commented and I couldn't help but to agree with my friend.

"His other theories are even worse," I said, folding Sirius letter and picking up Tom's while Draco unfolded his edition of the _Prophet_.

Tom's letter was the shortest of the three, but still his comment about Nagijan and his Divination skills made me laugh. Though his P.S. was a bit over the top.

_**~Dear Harry,** _

_**Congratulation for being sorted into Slytherin! I would love to celebrate this with gifting you with a snake to honour the house mascot but as I already had the foresight to get you Nagijan last month, this bracelet will have to do. Feel free to add other charms if you want to.** _

_**Love,** _

_**Tom** _

_**P.S. If someone dares to bother you too much, just tell Severus about it or send Nagijan after them~** _

Carefully I took the bracelet out of the envelope. It was made of silver and already had two charms on it. One was a smaller copy of my lightning bolt earrings while the other charm had the form of a snake.

"Nice bracelet," Draco commented when he looked up from the paper and saw me fastening the jewellery on my left wrist.

"Thanks. It's a present from Lord Slytherin," I said, remembering just in time to address Tom by his proper title in public, even if I was just talking to my best friend.

"Since we're already talking about him, you should really read today's front page," Draco said and handed over his copy of the newspaper.

_**~Harry Potter-Lord Slytherin's fiancé** _

_**By Rita Skeeter** _

_**My dear readers, it's finally official: Our beloved Lord Slytherin is engaged to Harry Potter.** _

_**Imagine our surprise at the Prophet when nearly a month after our latest article on Mister Potter** ('Harry James Potter – The new heartbreaker?', 07.08) **we finally received a statement from Lord Slytherin. After neither James Potter nor the possible fiancés had approached us, we had firmly believed that young Harry may have gotten marriage proposals from the later parties but that his father hadn't yet decided on a spouse. Though, according to Lord Slytherin's letter to us this doesn't seem to be the case.**_

_**In it he confirmed that he'd already been engaged to Harry for years but had decided to not make it public knowledge to allow Harry to enjoy his childhood without all the pressure the engagement would bring. His wish for Harry to have a normal childhood even goes so far that he's asking the citizens of Wizarding Britain to not approach Harry because of the engagement and to just let him concentrate on his school work and enjoy his time at Hogwarts.** _

_**Some of you may wonder if Lord Slytherin would still have taken Harry as his future consort if he hadn't turned out to be a rare Foreas. To those we can just say that Harry already got his first earring―the typical symbol for an engagement to a member of the Slytherin family―for his baptism, when his Foreas status was still unclear. It gives rise to the question why especially Harry had been chosen. He must possess something else than just being a Foreas to have caught Lord Slytherin's attention mere days after his birth. Unfortunately our enquiries had stayed unanswered. So we'll have to wait and see what makes Harry so special.** _

_**For now, we can do nothing more than to congratulate him on his engagement and wish him the best of luck during his first year at Hogwarts.~** _

By the time I had finished reading the article, most of the other students had read it too and were staring at me. _At least this explained Tom's P.S.,_ I thought with a sigh, already hating to be the centre of attention.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And that's how my engagement was made official and how I was sorted into Slytherin _ **―**_ something which Dumbledore took as a bad omen. In his opinion, both things only substantiated that I would be the one to assure the half-blood Lord's reign as the prophesy predicted and which he would love to see an end to.


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** villain Ron

 **AN:** Thank you for all the new Kudos and reviews. :)

As the last chapter was a bit short and I was able to finish this first half of chapter 8 in three days, I decided to divide chapter 8 into two parts. This way you also won't have to wait for four weeks before I'd have found the time to finish the other half. So, enjoy the super quick update.

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**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 8 -~-~-**

" _The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after."_  


(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American Poet)

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When it comes to summaries of my first day at Hogwarts, Longfellow's quote about fame more or less describes how it went. At no point during that day did I do something with the goal in mind to receive the attention of my fellow students. I actually would have been happy to be ignored by them.

But after Skeeter's article in the morning which made the whole school stare at me and whisper about me behind my back, I got even more unwanted attention as the day progressed just because some students hated snakes―both the reptile and the students of Slytherin house.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

During breakfast, the noise in the Great Hall had been so loud that Severus saw himself forced to threaten everyone who wouldn't stop gossiping or staring at me with the loss of twenty house points. Only when they finally calmed down, did Severus distribute our timetables.

Grateful to not be openly stared at any longer, Draco and I were very excited when we saw that we had flying just before the lunch break. And while I was happy that Neville would be there with us, the rest of my house complained about having the best lesson of the week together with the annoying Gryffindors.

Because of the long standing house rivalry, it was expected that a fight would break out between the two houses. What no one would have guessed though, was that shy Neville would be the catalyst of the fight.

When he arrived on the Quidditch pitch, Neville walked away from his fellow Gryffindors and joined Draco and me to ask how we were doing. Ronald Weasley didn't like this at all. The red-head insulted us Slytherins in general and demanded that Neville came back over to the Gryffindor side of the pitch.

Neville didn't buckle. He told Ron that something as petite as being sorted into two different houses wasn't a reason to give up on years of friendship. That made Ron accuse him of only wanting to be close to me because I was engaged to Lord Slytherin. From there, he attacked me, complaining about me being allowed to bring a lethal snake to school when he couldn't even bring his harmless pet rat with him.

Draco, in true form, couldn't help himself but to ridicule Ron for his choice of pet. Ron countered with the fact the Severus would obviously favour us because we were his godsons but his argument was somewhat worthless because we didn't had Potions yet. Therefore, he had no proof for his claim.

Fortunately, Madame Hooch finally joined us before the fight could get out of hands and wands could be drawn.

Halfway through the lesson, Neville had an accident which broke his arm. As Madame Hooch accompanied him to the Hospital Wing, Ron commented that Neville got his due for fraternising with the enemy.

"Look, Neville lost something," Dean Thomas exclaimed, pointing at something in the grass.

Before Draco or I could reach the fallen Remembrall, Ron had already picked it up.

"Let's see what good friends you are," was all he said before he threw the ball-like object as far away as possible.

I didn't think when I grabbed my broom and raced after it, even as Theodore called out to me to get back on the ground, less Madame Hooch came back and found me disobeying her direct order to stay put on the ground.

The famous Potter luck ensured that I caught the Remembrall right in front of the headmaster's office where Severus was in a meeting with McGonagall and Dumbledore regarding the dormitory issue between myself and Blaise.

As I gloriously held out the ball, one of the windows behind my back opened. "Mr Potter," the headmaster said. "What are you doing up here? I'm sure that Madame Hooch doesn't allow her students to fly around the castle during their first flying lesson."

"Uhm," I stammered out at first before I got a grip on myself. "Ronald Weasley threw Neville's Remembrall away, so I raced after it to be able to give it back to my friend," I explained, showing them the ball as proof.

"Still, as honourable as your intentions were, I can't let you get away with this. Fifteen points from Slytherin for going against instructions. And now be a good boy and fly back down to the ground before I'm forced to add a detention," the headmaster dismissed me.

Before Dumbledore could change his mind, or Severus decided to scold me too, I quickly flew away from the window.

" _Don't you dare to get into a wild dash again!"_ Nagijan complained.

In my haste I'd totally forgotten that I still had him wrapped around my shoulders. I had assumed that it would be alright to take him with me during the first lessons of the day. It was only History of Magic and flying, so the teachers shouldn't complain. " _Sorry._ _It won't happen again,_ _"_ I hissed out in Parseltongue, being far away enough from anyone else to not be overheard speaking the language of the snakes.

" _I hope so,"_ he answered before he became mute again.

"You got it," Draco congratulated as I landed.

"Yeah," I answered subdued. "But I also lost us fifteen points because Weasley had to throw it right towards the headmaster's office."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

In said office my godfather Severus was busy gloating. Because of Dumbledore's stubbornness, he and Professor McGonagall had been looking out the windows in annoyance and saw how I caught the Remembrall.

"You know, Minerva, if Mr Potter, like his parents, had been sorted into your house, you would just have found yourself a new Seeker," he said to the Transfiguration teacher. "But alas, I believe he will win the cup for Slytherin this year. Again."

"Now, now, my boy," Dumbledore barged in. "As nice as it is that Slytherin has won the cup for three years in a row, you should very well know that first-years aren't allow to bring a broom and therefore can't play for the house teams."

"Now, Albus," Severus began with a smirk. "If you'd just agreed to let either Mr Zabini or Potter use one of the many guest rooms, like I and Minerva suggested, I wouldn't have to contact Lord Slytherin to inform him of the current dormitory issue.

"I'm sure that it won't be a problem at all to get his special permission for Mr Potter to bring a broom and to play on the house team while I'm at it." Severus' smirk grew wider when he saw the twinkle in the blue eyes dim. They all knew after today's front page that he would easily get any special permissions from Tom for me.

"Ah, but Severus, we wouldn't want the other students to think that we're unfairly favouring Harry," Dumbledore countered, trying to get the upper hand again.

"But it isn't us who is favouring Mr Potter; it's his fiancé," my godfather said as he closed the door to Dumbledore's office. He knew that he had at least won this round, if not the fight about the guest room. Although, Severus was relatively sure that he would be able to win the later one too after he contacted Lord Slytherin.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Congratulations, Mr Potter," Severus addressed me just after I sat down for lunch and, as previously agreed, used my last name to maintain the teacher-student relationship. "You're now officially Slytherin's new Seeker."

I couldn't say anything in response, I was just perplexed.

"Wow, that's cool, Harry," Draco congratulated, slapping my left shoulder.

"But aren't first-years forbidden to play?" asked Theodore Nott from my right.

"Yeah, he hasn't even tried out," Terence Higgs added.

"Let us just say that the stunt he pulled during his flying lesson was qualification enough, Mr Higgs," Severus explained, giving me a glare for said stunt―or maybe for having been caught; who knows?

"And to answer your question, Mr Nott, Lord Slytherin has just given me his permission for Mr Potter to play," he told Theo.

"You really have found the **Philosopher's Stone*** ," Theo said in regards to the doors that had been opened for me because of my engagement to Lord Slytherin. "I wish I had a lord who would give me all the special permission for anything," he told me in good humour, not seeming to be jealous about the special treatment I got but just expressing his wishful thinking.

"Come to my office after classes are over. We'll discuss the details then," Severus told me before he walked towards his seat at the head table.

It didn't take long before the news of my Seeker position and that I was the youngest player in a century made its way around the whole hall. The older students all eager to get the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins to tell them all about my spectacular catch.

"Come on, let's get out of here and visit Neville," I said to Draco as the stares got too much. Grabbing a sandwich each, we left the Great Hall in favour to go to the Hospital Wing a bit earlier than planned as we'd originally wanted to eat some lunch first.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

At half past three I knocked on Severus' office door, not eager to get scolded by my godfather and Head of House on the first day of school.

"Enter!" he called out in a stern voice.

I was relieved when I reached the visitor's chair and Severus said, "Take a seat and have some tea, Harry."

By the use of my given name, I knew that he wouldn't scold me as a teacher for the stunt in flying, so I wouldn't get detention on the first day of school like Ronald Weasley. _Maybe_ _Severus_ _just wanted to ask me how I was doing, now that my engagement is public knowledge?_ I wondered.

"Thank you, Severus," I said as I took my seat.

"While as your teacher I should reprimand you for acting without thinking, as your godfather I'm very proud of you. Not only because it was an amazing catch but also, because you stood up for your friend, regardless of the ongoing house rivalry."

"Thank you," I answered, a bit embarrassed by his praise.

"As for you being Slytherin's new Seeker, I have to tell you that you're only allowed to stay on the team as long as your grades don't suffer. So don't neglect your school work."

"Okay," I said with a smile. I still couldn't believe that I'd made the team without even trying out.

My godfather just smiled in return. After we took a sip of our tea, he went on. "As you've seen, I was talking with the headmaster and Professor McGonagall this morning. Like I feared, Professor Dumbledore didn't agree to let you or Mr Zabini use one of the guest rooms, insisting that I should just get rid of your snake."

"You wouldn't!" I yelled out, not wanting to part from Nagijan, who was currently sleeping on my bed.

"Of course not," Severus calmly answered. "I've spoken with Lord Slytherin about the situation and he said that you could move into his private quarters and Mr Zabini can have the Foreas' room for himself."

"I don't know," I answered honestly in a shy voice. Encouraging me with his body language to continue, I explained my thoughts to him. "I mean, I don't have anything against moving into his quarters in general. Our engagement is common knowledge now and I've already spent a week at his home. But with all the attention and the special treatment I already got, I fear that it will send the other students over the edge and make them complain about me and maybe even start to bully me because of it."

"Hmm," my godfather hummed in acknowledgement. "I already voiced similar fears to him. That's why I wanted to know your opinion about it before getting back to him," he added, concealing that his own concerns lay more in the direction of Tom being accused to be a paedophile because of I sleeping in his bed.

"It's a shame though since this would have been the easiest solution," Severus muttered more to himself than to me.

"Maybe we could just wait a while until everything has calmed down?" I suggested. "It's not like Draco and I have a problem with sharing a room," I added.

Severus took another gulp of his tea, obviously thinking about the proposition. _Harry's suggestion has its merits,_ he thought. _Maybe... He hasn't complained about it either... It's his own fault anyway...Yes, that could work..._

After a long sigh, he finally shared his idea with me. "How about this. For the next two years you and Draco will stay in the Foreas' room, while Mr Zabini will stay in the boys' dorm. And in your third year you'll move into Lord Slytherin's quarters and Mr Zabini will get the Foreas' room."

"Sounds good," I agreed. "By then the gossip should have calmed down," I said in good humour.

Severus mentally added to my sentence, _And by then you should be old enough to keep the paedophile accusations down. Thank Salazar that as soon as a Foreas is fertile, he's regarded as an adult, at least sexually._ _Let's just hope that neither Harry nor Zabini will_ _become_ _fertile before their third year. Though, I fear that Tom won't like that Harry and Draco will_ _be_ _shar_ _ing_ _a room for the next two years._ _I can only hope that Harry too wanting to stay with Draco_ _for a while longer_ _will soften Tom's reaction._ _He's so smitten with Harry that he tends to overlook some things as long as it will make Harry happy_ _._

"Good," he finally said out loud after his short mental monologue. "I'll inform the rest of your classmates about the arrangement before dinner," he said in dismissal.

"I can tell Draco now though?" I asked, eager to share the good news with him.

"Of course," he said. "And now go," he added with a shoving motion.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Our Lord isn't enough for you, Potter? You have to sleep with the Malfoy heir too?" Ronald Weasley attacked me just outside of the Great Hall as Draco and I were on our way to dinner.

Obviously the news of the unusual sleeping arrangement had already reached the other houses because many of them stopped outside the Great Hall to listen to the fight.

"It isn't my problem that Blaise is afraid of Nagijan," I countered, petting my snake who was back around my shoulders.

"You shouldn't have been allowed to bring it in the first place. But that's beside the point," Ron said. "Malfoy shouldn't have moved in with you. He could have stayed in the boys' dorm with everyone else," he said, neither I nor Draco liking that he spoke like my blond friend wasn't standing right next to us.

"That wouldn't be possible," a female voice said matter-of-factly. Turning around I saw that it was Hermione who had spoken up.

"And why not, Ms Know-it-all?" Ron mockingly asked.

"Because the dormitories are enchanted," she began her explanation. "There are always only as many beds as students which are supposed to sleep in each dorm. Not even the headmaster is able to add an extra bed to a dormitory according to _Hogwarts: A History_. So, as long as no one wants to sleep on the floor, someone has to switch his bed with Blaise," she explained.

"You're really a freak. Who in their right mind reads _Hogwarts: A History_?" Ron insulted her.

"Come on, Hermione. Don't listen to what he says," I told her as I steered her away from the red-head. It was obvious that Ron's words had hurt her, so I told her, "You know, Draco and I read _Hogwarts: A History,_ too." _At least the first four chapters about the founders before we skipped to the last chapters,_ I mentally added.

Thankfully this had the hoped effect of cheering her up.

"Did you know about the beds?" Draco asked me after we sat down at the Slytherin table.

"No," I admitted. "Severus must have known about it though."

"Hmm," he agreed as he drank some pumpkin juice. "I'm glad that we postponed your relocation to Lord Slytherin's quarters," he whispered into my ear, not wanting to be overheard.

"Yeah, it's already bad enough as it is," I agreed, very aware about the whispers and stares which were as bad as during breakfast and lunch, if not worse. The only upside was that instead of them only staring at me, the other students were now looking at Draco and to some extent, at Blaise too.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

To my relief, the whispers and stares had decreased over the following days until two weeks after school was in session, they had completely vanished. To my annoyance, the attention I got increased again when it was time for the first Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Everyone was interested in how the first-year, Harry Potter would fare. Understandably their high expectations did nothing to calm down my nerves; they made them even worse.

Ron's comment about my sure failure to catch the Snitch and therefore guaranteeing Gryffindor an easy win was expected. However, Draco was surprised when the Weasley twins approached me right after their brother to honestly wish me good luck for the game and promised to not target me too often with the Bludgers. I, on the other hand, wasn't terribly surprised by their well wishes.

On the first day of classes the twins had ambushed me when I'd walked alone to Severus' office while they were on their way back from Potions class. At first I thought that they wanted to revenge their younger brother, who had gotten a detention from McGonagall for how he treated his house mate Neville.

But to my relief, they just congratulated me of being the youngest Seeker in a century and thought that my catch of the Remembrall had been brilliant. They'd seen the whole episode from their Care of Magical Creatures class and thought that Ron was an ass and deserved the detention he got. Before they left, they even told me that they were sad that I wouldn't be playing for Gryffindor like my father.

But with the whole dormitory issue going on that day, I had totally forgotten to tell Draco about my short meeting with the twins.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Harry," Draco told me as we walked towards the changing rooms. "I mean have you seen Gryffindor's Seeker? His reflexes really aren't the best. Besides, with the Nimbus 2000 your father sent you, you'll also have the speed advantage," he motivated me, helping to calm my nerves somewhat.

"Though it's a real shame that no Chaser position was open this year," Draco added just before we had to part ways.

We were both fairly sure that we could have been able to get another special permission for Draco from Tom if he had made it onto the team. But Marcus, this year's captain and Chaser, had said that the trio with him, Adrian and **Sekhmet*** worked too good to be divided. But as Sekhmet would be graduating this year, Draco was free to try out for her position next year.

"Good luck," Draco told me before he made his way up to the Slytherin stands and I got ready for the game.

To my great relief and my house mates' joy, I won the game against Gryffindor for Slytherin without a problem. At least, if you overlooked that I'd nearly swallowed the Snitch. From then on, I stopped being nervous about the games, becoming actually eager to fight with the other Seeker for the Snitch.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

By the end of the year, I had gotten used to being the new star of the Slytherin Quidditch team, had gotten rather good at using the short cuts pointed out in the Marauder's Map to avoid Ronald Weasley, and the rest of Hogwarts' population seemed to have forgotten that Lord Slytherin was my fiancé.

So, to come back to Longfellow's quote about fame, I was happy that I was acknowledged by my peers because of my Quidditch skills and therefore something I was good at, instead of being famous for being Tom's fiancé, something which hadn't anything to do with me just being Harry.

Unbeknown to me, the fact that I had achieved either an Acceptable or an Exceeds Expectations in all my end of year exams except for Defence, where I achieved an Outstanding, was enough for Dumbledore to back off for now and just keep a close watch on me for the next years.

I fear that if I'd been competing for the title of 'top student' with Draco and Hermione, Dumbledore would have tried to come up with a plot to either test my skills or to get rid of me with an accident. But with I only being talented in DADA and Quidditch, the headmaster only saw it fit to have a nice, long chat with Professor Quirrel.

At the end of the talk, the Defence teacher decided to go back to travelling and exploring the world, leaving Dumbledore free to find another teacher who wouldn't nurture my aptitude for DADA. And who would be better suited for this task than Gilderoy Lockhart.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Philosopher's Stone:** In my story the wizarding equivalent of "got the jackpot" just like "Merlin" is used instead of "God".

 **Sekhmet:** Egyptian Goddess of war, her name meaning "The Powerful one". I used is a pureblood girl's name.


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** paedophile character

**AN:** Here is the next chapter. There's a poll on my Fanfiction.net profile page concerning the inclusion of the Triwizard Tournament. The current vote is 57% for the inclusion of the tournament.

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**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 9 -~-~-**

What does it mean to be a teenager? For many it means a change in their body, a change from a child to a young man or woman. For me, it meant that I stopped being a boy and became a Foreas. And while two boys could share a room, a young man and an already betrothed and fertile Foreas couldn't, even if they've been best friends from the cradle and have only platonic feelings for each other.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"I really hate that we aren't sharing a room anymore," Draco complained as we walked out of the Great Hall after the Welcoming Feast of our third year at Hogwarts.

"I know," I answered, having heard that particular complain for the fifth time today and even more times during the summer holidays. "But this doesn't mean that you can't visit me there, you know?" I said to cheer my best friend up.

"It still won't be the same as if we roomed together," the blond answered, dejected.

"Now you're being silly," I informed him. "What difference does it make if we're sleeping in the same room or not? I mean we're _sleeping_ ," I stressed.

"But you must be in your room by curfew," Draco whined. "So we'll have fifteen minutes less together every day, making it nearly two hours a week," Draco began to count up the time.

Before he started to tell me how much difference it would make in a year, I interrupted him, "And you're a Prefect and therefore can walk around the castle after curfew all you like. So just walk me to me room and we won't miss any time."

"Yeah, I forgot about that," Draco said with a smile. "But still..."

"Really, Draco. If you don't stop complaining, I'll have to believe that you're actually sad that you now have to share a dorm with three other people instead of about seeing me some minutes less every day," I accused in good humour.

Draco stopped mid-step and turned around to face me. "Of course I care more about you than about which room I'm staying in," he said, obviously hurt that I would even think something like this about him.

"So stop complaining about the new rooming arrangement," I said, ruffling Draco's blond locks before I ran away from his fury.

"Hey!" he yelled, trying to smooth down his hair again as he hurried after me.

I just laughed. _Draco and his hair._

At the staircase I stopped and waited for Draco to catch up with me. As I usually would have run down all the way to the dungeon, Draco had reason to ask, "Aren't you coming down to the common room?"

"Not today," I answered. "I have to unpack my stuff and then it's straight to bed for me. I'm so knackered. I'm always surprised how doing nothing but sitting in a train all day long can tire you so much."

"Because you're bored?" Draco suggested.

"Draco Malfoy, are you saying that your company is boring?" I asked in mock outrage.

"Of course, not!" he vehemently denied.

"Good," I said with a smile. "Good night, Draco," I bided farewell to my friend, hugging him goodbye, while he hugged me back.

"Sleep well," he wished as I walked up the stairs to the second floor where Lord Slytherin's private rooms were located.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

" _Dumbledore is insane,"_ I hissed at the portrait of a silver-blue Ouroboros who guarded the entrance to my new rooms.

It was in the summer between my first and second year when Tom told me the password to his quarters in Hogwarts. While I hadn't been surprised that it was in Parseltongue, I'd been surprised that Tom would say such a thing about the headmaster. Dumbledore was strange, yes. But insane? I wouldn't have gone that far.

However, by the time I first had to use the password, I was ready to agree with Tom. The reason for the change of mind? The one and only Gilderoy Lockhart!

After the first lesson I already disliked the man. Seriously, what competent teacher quizzes their students about his favourite colour or when his birthday is? And as if this wasn't enough, the man also gave me a creepy feeling whenever he stood near me or leaned over my shoulder to see how I was faring with the 'quiz'. To top it off, after the fiasco with the Cornish Pixies, it was clear that the man was a fraud and hadn't the slightest idea about Defence.

And while some would say that hiring an incompetent teacher was enough to label the headmaster insane, my personal reason to agree with Tom's choice of password had more to do with the creepy feeling I got from the DADA teacher Dumbledore employed.

While I'd at first wondered why exactly Lockhart made me feel so uncomfortable around him, the reason behind my uneasiness became clear by the time Valentine's Day came around.

The peacock, as the Weasley twins had labelled Lockhart, had organized a special Valentine's event in a sickenly pink Great Hall. To make matters worse, dwarfs, dressed up as cupids, were delivering love letters and singing love songs.

With my status of being Lord Slytherin's fiancé being known, Draco and I didn't expect anyone to dare and write something to me, disrespecting their Lord. But not one, but two people had the audacity to send one of the cupids my way.

The first admirer was easily made out. When the cupid had sung the horrible song about my eyes being as green as a fresh pickled toad and my hair being as dark as a blackboard, Ginny Weasley's face had become so red that only she could be the one behind it.

The second admirer was harder to figure out as I received his letter during lunch. But in the end, his handwriting gave him away.

"The song was embarrassing, but this is just 'Eer'," Draco commented after having read the letter with me. I couldn't help but to agree with him.

_**~I want to stroke your hair, to kiss your lips~**_ that was harmless enough. But _ **~to caress your thighs and loins, to bury myself in your warmth~**_? That certainly wasn't something one should write to a twelve-year-old! Especially not to an engaged one.

"The handwriting looks familiar though," I told Draco, who agreed with me. _But who was it?_ I wondered.

"Looks like Professor Lockhart's handwriting," Theo said from my right, having leaned over my shoulder to take a look at the letter.

"Now that you say it, it really looks suspiciously like the comments on my DADA assignments," Draco said. "A student could have faked his hand, though," the blond admonished.

"If I were you, I would inform Professor Snape about it," Theodore suggested as he finished his sandwich.

I agreed with my house mate. However, my godfather had the present of mind to avoid having to spend any more time in the Valentine's horror cabinet of a Great Hall by the impromptus placing of an important appointment with Lord Slytherin after breakfast, which fortunately kept him away from the castle until the following morning.

And because Nagijan had disliked all the pink too, I had asked Severus to take Nagijan with him. The snake had pestered me with wanting to meet with Nagini for some time anyway. So my animalistic defence was also out of my reach.

"Just try to not be alone with him until Sev returns," Draco advised to which I nodded in agreement. I had no wish to be alone with the man if all signs pointed in the direction of him having inappropriate intentions or feelings for me. But to my horror, just this happened in the evening.

I was on my way back from the library, as I unknowingly walked under one of Lockhart's Valentine's versions of a mistletoe, which was nothing but a glittering mass of pink ribbons with even more neon pink paper hearts as a berry substitute. But what was worse about the damned thing was that it would follow you around and play an annoying love song until a second person would step under it and the pair exchanged a kiss, after which, the object would finally vanish.

After cursing my misfortune, I decided to just walk down to the dungeon where Draco would free me from the damn thing. But as my luck would have it, I got caught by the damn pink joke of a mistletoe on the third floor. The third floor where the Defence classroom was located. And, as if he had been laying in wait for me to walk into his kissing trap, Lockhart came around the corner, sporting a hug smile, just like the cat who got the cream.

"Harry, my dear. Don't worry, I'll rescue you from the mistletoe," he called out to me in an overly joyous voice.

The horrible letter still clearly present in my mind, I didn't hesitate to run away from the man and sprinted down the staircase to the second floor. I wouldn't be able to run all the way down to the safety of the Slytherin common room. Hiding was also out of the question, thanks to the annoying song the pink mistletoe created.

Just in time I remembered that Tom's private rooms were located on the second floor, not too far away from the staircase I was currently descending.

"Wait up for me, Harry," I heard Lockhart yell behind me as I reached the second floor and turned left. Hearing his voice made me only run faster away from the man.

_Why did I_ _let Severus_ _take_ _Nagijan_ _with him_ _,_ I cursed. _If I didn't know better, I would suspect that he flooded the school on purpose with all the pink and glitter just so that I would be on my own,_ I thought.

I only stopped running once I reached the portrait of the Ouroboros which guarded the entrance to Lord Slytherin's quarters.

" _Dumbledore is insane,_ " I hissed out in desperation, hearing the sounds of Lockhart's footfalls become louder and louder as the part of the canvas the Ouroboros enclosed vanished a bit too slowly for my liking. But at least I had been lucky that the guarding portrait was a snake because I still hadn't mastered to speak Parseltongue without seeing a snake in front of me at that time.

When the opening was just big enough for me to slip through, I dashed through the hole and called out, " _Close!_ " To my relief, I was still speaking in Parseltongue, even though I hadn't a snake to look at.

With dread I watched how the opening closed again, hoping that I wouldn't see Lockhart's hand reaching through the still open hole. Only when the hole in the wall was fully closed without I having even seen a bit of his pink robes, did I allow myself to relax and slump down against the wall. Apparently the portrait hole did open and close faster than I thought; my fear of being caught by Lockhart having made everything seem like it happened in slow-motion.

When I looked up again, I noticed that I wasn't alone in the room. To my surprise and joy, Severus was sitting in one of the armchairs, Tom occupied the other while Nagijan and Nagini were cuddled together on the rug in front of the lit fireplace.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Severus asked, getting up from his armchair to walk over to me. But before he could take more than three steps, I'd already got up from the floor and had run into his arms, burying my head in his chest.

"Oh, I'm so happy to see you," I mumbled against Severus' chest as I hugged my godfather tightly, crying in relief.

"What happened, Harry?" he asked me, his voice full of worry.

"I..." I began but couldn't finish. Now where I was out of danger and safe, the adrenalin vanished, allowing my feelings to overwhelm me.

"I..." I tried once again. But I was still too distraught by what could have happened to get anything out.

"It's okay, Harry. You're safe now," Severus said in a soothing voice, rubbing comforting circles on my back with his left hand as he guided me to the armchair he had previously vacated.

Once we we're both settled comfortably in the armchair, Severus began to tease out what the problem was, Tom and the snakes watching us with keen eyes.

"Has it something to do with the annoying mistletoe over your head?" he asked me in a calm voice. I just nodded in agreement.

"Were you running away from someone who wanted to kiss you?" Severus asked after a short paused. It had taken him some moments to guess what could be the reason for my current hysteric and was somehow related to the mistletoe.

"Yes," I answered, finally finding my voice.

"Who was it?" Tom asked, before Severus could ask the question.

"Pro-fessor Lock-hart," I stammered out, talking to Severus' chest. While Tom didn't make me feel afraid, it still spooked me that he had suddenly spoken.

"Lockhart?" Severus asked in shock. Tom was doing his best to keep his outrage under control and to stay silent to not startle me again.

I nodded. "I got a Valentine during lunch," I began to explain. "It made me feel...uncomfortable," I found the word after a short pause. "And I wanted to show it to you, but you left after breakfast," I added.

"Do you have it with you?" Severus asked me. He believed that reading the letter would get him faster to the root of the problem than asking me more questions.

"Yes," I answered. "It's in my satchel."

Without a word, Tom got up from his armchair and walked over towards the portrait hole where my satchel lay forgotten on the ground. Handling it over to me, I rummaged around a bit until I found the letter.

With curious eyes, Severus took the letter from me and unfolded it. Lord Slytherin read the letter over the Potions master's shoulder.

It was both fascinating and scary to see how both their eyes darkened with every word they read.

"Isn't there a way to shut that damn thing up," Tom said in annoyance, referring to the song the pink mistletoe was playing in a continuous loop. Apparently, until now he had been so worried about me that he'd been able to ignore the horrible noise. But now, where he was beyond furious about what he'd read, it just fuelled his anger even more.

"One of us would have to kiss Harry on the lips," Severus answered, his voice monotone as he was doing his best to suppress his anger to not scare me.

"Would it be all right if I kissed you, Harry?" Tom asked in a soothing, calm voice.

"I'd planned to ask Draco to kiss me," I told him, not seeing how his left eye twitched at the comment. "But it's okay if you do it," I added in a shy voice after a short pause, giving Tom the permission to kiss me.

Severus loosened his hold on me, allowing me to turn around in his lap so that Tom could reach me better.

Slowly, to give me enough time to stop him if necessary, Tom leaned closer to me. Because Tom wasn't Lockhart, he only gave me a quick and innocent kiss on the lips. But still, it made my cheeks turn a bright, deep shade of red as the pink mistletoe vanished for good.

"Finally," Severus mumbled out in relief, happy that it was silent in the room again.

"Now," Tom said to the room, "let's see if we can find the man."

"Severus, you'll stay with Harry. _Nagini, you'll come with me,_ " Tom ordered as he walked towards the portrait hole.

Tom didn't have to look far to find Lockhart because he returned to his rooms just after Nagijan had crawled into my lap to comfort me. Apparently, the paedophile Professor had still been roaming the second floor, searching for my hiding place somewhere near the entrance to Lord Slytherin's quarters when Tom dragged him with him.

"Harry," Lockhart said in surprise. Why he was surprised to see me, I couldn't imagine. Either he was very dump or a very good actor. Really, why else should Lord Slytherin have dragged him into an isolated room right after his failed attempt at molesting his fiancé?

"I've been searching for you everywhere," Lockhart added, making me feel very uncomfortable, even with Nagijan and Severus right beside me.

Tom must have noticed my discomfort because he ordered in Parseltongue, _"Harry, Nagijan, go to the other room."_

Quickly, I picked up Nagijan and headed to the other room, which turned out to be the bedroom. Even with Tom and Severus being there with me, I still didn't want to spend a minute longer than absolutely necessary in the same room as Lockhart.

In retrospect, I wonder if he just wanted to have me out of harm's way, or if he just hadn't wanted me to witness what he and Severus did to Lockhart after I left.

But even then, I was still curious about what happened in the next room, so instead of inspecting the bedroom, I sat down just behind the door, trying to catch what was said.

At first I could just hear some bits and pieces. And that was only because Lockhart was speaking louder than normal.

"Soft skin", "seduce the rare Foreas", "a trophy to deflower the Lord's fiancé", and "would magnify my fame" were what I heard through the closed door. I did not like any of it. I was really relieved that Nagijan was with me. Petting him gave me a feeling of security.

"Being an expert in Memory Charms," was the last thing I heard. Severus or Tom must finally have cast a Silencing Charm on the door as no other sounds were heard for a whole minute.

Annoyed, I got up again with a huff and took a look around the room, not worried about Tom or Severus as Lockhart was no match for them. Expert on Memory Charms or not.

For this being the private quarters of Lord Slytherin, the room was rather sparsely decorated. But the few pieces of furniture in it were old, high-quality ones made of a dark red-brown wood with some black, silver and green accents.

Quickly, I'd inspected everything there was to see and opened the door to the bathroom. Surprisingly it was nearly as large as the bedroom and had both a big tub and shower.

Just as I wanted to inspect the different taps, Tom walked into the bedroom and called out for me, telling me that it was safe for me to come back to the sitting room.

"Don't worry, Harry," Tom said to me as he entered the bathroom and laid a soothing hand on my shoulder. "He can't do anything to you anymore."

" _Don't worry, little one,"_ Nagini suddenly spoke up as I re-entered the bedroom. " _I tripped him so that his own spell hi_ _t_ _him,_ " she explained, very proud of her handiwork.

" _And it makes q_ _uestioning_ _him_ _under_ _Veritaserum so much easier when he can't even remember his own name,_ " Tom chided Nagini.

"But don't worry, Harry," he addressed me. "With the letter you showed us, the Aurors have all the evidence they need to arrest him. Especially since Severus is contacting your other godfather to make the arrest."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't believe that Severus would contact Sirius of his own free will; the two loathed each other.

"I asked," Tom said and it was explanation enough. Considering how protective my family was, Tom had a good feeling that Sirius would do something to Lockhart before he even reached the questioning room.

"Besides, you'll need a substitute teacher for the next months. So why not have an Auror step in?" Tom asked as we went into the sitting room.

As it was already past curfew, we didn't stay in the sitting room. Instead, I got my satchel and Tom walked me and Nagijan down to the Slytherin common room, Nagini wanting to stay in front of the warm fireplace.

Curious as I was, I asked Tom why he and Severus had been at Hogwarts instead of Slytherin Manor where Severus had said they would meet. I was pleasantly surprised when he told me that he'd decided to meet Severus at Hogwarts because he had wanted to check his quarters at Hogwarts, wanting to see if it would have everything I would need the next year.

"Be safe, Harry," Tom said to me in parting before he hisses " _Open_ " at the wall hiding the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

Not knowing if I should answer Tom's demand/wish with "I will" or "Thank you", I decided for a simple "Good bye," as I stepped through the now opened entrance to the common room, just as I was now stepping through the circular opening in the Ouroboros' portrait to enter my new rooms―Lord Slytherin's private quarters at Hogwarts.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Looking around, I saw that nearly nothing has been changed. The only difference was the lack of Tom's, Severus' and Nagini's presence in the room and the newly added writing desk and chair.

On the table between the two armchairs I noticed a piece of paper. Stepping closer, I picked it up and read it silently.

_**~Dear Harry,** _

_**I hope you like your new rooms. If you should need anything, don't hesitate to contact me via the Floo. The Floo here is always open for you to contact me any time you need me. Even if it is only to have a listening ear.** _

_**Love,** _

_**Tom~** _

By the end of the short letter, I had gotten a warm feeling in my chest which spread out to my arms, making me feel very cherished and happy. That Tom had already told me the same thing during the week I spent at his home, made me feel even more loved and cared for. With a little, silly smile on my face, I carefully folded the note and entered the bedroom.

Gingerly laying the note down on my bedside table, I put Nagijan on the bed and then walked towards my trunk, wanting to get the unpacking done so that I could go to bed and sleep. To my great surprise, my trunk was nearly empty. While my school supplies were still in it, all of my clothes have vanished.

"Where the hell are my clothes?!" I exclaimed to the empty room.

"Mipsy is very sorry, Harry Potter, sir," came the voice of a house-elf which suddenly appeared next to me and my trunk. "Mipsy thought that Mr Potter would like it if his clothes would already be in the wardrobe," the tiny elf revealed the whereabouts of my clothes, pulling at her ears.

"Mipsy, will correct her error right away and send the clothes back to the trunk," she added and was about to snap her fingers to do as she said.

"Wait, Mipsy," I called out, stopping her movement. "I'm not angry that you unpacked my clothes. I'm grateful actually," I told her. "I would just have liked a note or something which told me where my clothes are," I explained.

"Oh," was all the house-elf was able to say at first, her big eyes seemingly larger than usual. "Mipsy will remember to leave a note next time," she said, nodding her head earnestly all the while as if she had to physically show her agreement to everything she just said.

"Mipsy will stab herself with a quill as a punishment for forgetting to leave a note," she informed me, as if this would be the obvious thing to do.

Since I hated it when house-elves hurt themselves because of me, I tried to stop her from going through with her self-proclaimed punishment. "No, Mipsy," I said in the most commanding voice I could muster, "that isn't a suitable punishment."

Before she could suggest something like iron her hands or even cutting her hands off entirely, I told her, "Mipsy, for forgetting to inform me you'll unpack my school supplies and move them to the desk in the sitting room. And don't forget to leave a note!" I added, having a hard time restraining myself from laughing.

It was somehow funny that I instructed her to leave me a note when I, in the first place, was the one who told her to move my things. But, my experience has shown that house-elves only accept two kinds of punishments. The first one was to physically punish themselves, which was also the kind they preferred. The second option of punishment was to let them redo what they did wrong so that they could atone for their earlier mistake.

"Of course, Harry Potter, sir," Mipsy said and with a snip of her fingers my school supplies vanished from my trunk to hopefully reappear on the writing desk.

Somehow handling house-elves and stopping them from harming themselves was more exhausting than spending the whole day on a train. Getting up from the floor in front of my trunk, I walked over to the wardrobe in search for my sleepwear.

After looking around for a bit, I easily found what I was looking for and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a quick shower. By the time I came out of the bathroom, I spotted a note lying on my trunk which was from Mipsy and informed me that my school supplies had been moved to the sitting room desk.

Shaking my head in amusement, I set my alarm clock and then fell into the soft bed, closing my eyes and falling asleep in minutes, Nagijan sleeping on the spare pillow besides my head.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The next morning Draco knocked on my door just as I was about to become exasperated with my tie.

"Morning, Harry," he greeted me as he walked into my new rooms.

"Morning," I greeted him back as Draco took hold of my tie and knotted it for me, just as he had done for the last two years whenever I didn't get the knot right.

"I can't wait to see how Remus will be as a teacher," I told Draco.

"For one, he will insist that you call him Professor Lupin during lessons," Draco said as he finished off the knot. "But I'm still glad that Sirius won't be teaching any longer or else Severus would have gone nuts soon."

While Sirius had been a funny teacher, who didn't care if I called him by his given name in class, I was still happy that this year Remus would be teaching. No pranks to watch out for, for one.

And so, even though Remus was very good in his previous job as an ambassador, Tom and Remus had agreed that the relationships with the werewolves were stable enough that someone else could step in. Also, they agreed that Remus working as a teacher even with his lycanthropy would be a good sign of trust and would help their case even more.

Besides, I had a very strong suspicion that Severus actually asked both Tom and the headmaster if they could replace Sirius with someone else. Though, I don't believe that he had Remus in mind for the job.

But at least this time there weren't a million rumours flying around about why our DADA teacher got replaced, unlike with Lockhart. The official reason why Sirius had replaced Lockhart was that Lockhart had become ill and needed to stay in St Mungo's to heal. And even though I asked, none of the adults told me what had happened to the man after he tried to molest me. The only information I had was what I overheard through the door and what Nagini gave away, so I knew that it had something to do with a Memory Charm gone wrong.

"It's a good thing that you weren't in the common room last night," Draco said as he inspected the sitting room.

"Why so?" I asked.

"Blaise had gone into a rant about how unfair it had been that he was the one who'd been kicked out of the Foreas dorm," he explained.

"But he was the one who didn't want to share a room with me because of Nagijan," I said.

"I know," Draco answered, "but you know how he is. Only because he's nearly a year older than us, he seems to believe that he's the better of the two of you. And now where he'd become fertile during the summer hols, he believes that he's all grown up now and owns the place," my best friend complained.

Entering the bedroom to get my satchel, I said, "Even without Nagijan, I wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't have allowed me to share the Foreas room with him. Knowing him, he would have complained about me knocking him up or something," I joked.

"Or you could knock up each other once you're fertile too," Draco commented.

"I'm sure that would go over well with my fiancé," I said, dryly.

"And that's why you're staying in his private quarters with your own bathroom," Draco said, clearly referring to the fact that even a fertile Foreas shared a bathroom with the other horny males to save money and space because we Foreas were too few to get their own lavatories.

"If I or Blaise were afraid of being molested, we could always use the girls bathroom," I joked.

"I don't think that you would be safe there either," Draco said. "Even though you're a Foreas and engaged, there are still some girls who wouldn't mind dating you. Ginny Weasley especially seems to have her eyes set on you."

"Great," I mumbled, as we left my rooms to go down to the Great Hall. After Lockhart, I had enough unwanted admirers for the next twenty years.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And so starting from the first day of our third year, Draco and I developed a new routine. In the morning, Draco would pick me up from my quarters and we would walk together to the Great Hall. And in the evening I would join Draco and the rest of my house mates in the common room until half an hour before curfew when Draco walked me to my rooms before he started his rounds as a Prefect.

Our routine changed slightly in November. In the night between the 11th and the 12th, I had my first wet dream. And while it was perfectly normal for a boy my age to have such a dream, I was still forced to see a Healer―Healer Scribner to be specific.

The reason? Unlike girls, Foreas don't have menstruations, so their fertility has to be confirmed from another source. I can still clearly remember how my father had explained everything to me.

In the summer between my first and second year, he called me into his study. Besides other things, he told me that it was a tradition for a Foreas to have long hair. I couldn't help but ask if Lucius Malfoy was actually a Foreas because of his very long hair. But my father assured me that this wasn't the case and that the only reason why a Foreas' hair had to be at least shoulder-length was that it would later be braided as a symbol of their fertility.

And when I asked him how I would know when I was fertile and had to start braiding my hair, he told me that only a Healer could assert my fertility. However, there were some hints which usually were a good indication to start having monthly check-ups. One of the hints was the breaking of the voice and the second was the first wet dream which usually was a better indication than the vocal change.

So, as instructed by my father, I sat down at my writing desk and composed a quick note to him, letting him know that he should get me an appointment with the Healer. And as if it wasn't embarrassing enough to tell my father that I had my first wet dream, I also had promised to Floo call Tom when it was time for my first fertility check.

Apparently, being the fiancé of the current Lord did speed up the usual waiting time for an appointment with Healer Scribner immensely. Instead of having to wait for a week, my father picked me up right after classes to Floo with me to St Mungo's.

While my memory of my last check up with Healer Scribner was a bit foggy, I could still clearly remember that I hadn't liked his methods. To my great relief, I didn't have to produce a semen sample for him to test. At this age producing a sample on demand would have been problematic at best, if not impossible. Instead, Healer Scribner cast a very complex spell on me which would produce a parchment which would vanish after an hour. Therefore, the Healer made three copies of it, one for my files, one for my father and one for Tom.

"Congratulations, Mr Potter. While your son's semen isn't fertile yet, he's already able to conceive children," Healer Scriber said to my father as he handed over one of the handwritten copies of the test result to him.

Curious to know what it said, I read the paper together with my dad.

 

_**~FERTILITY-TEST-RESULTS** _

__

_**Patient: Harry James Potter** _

_**Date of Birth: 31.07.1980** _

_**Test date: 12.11.1993** _

__

_**Semen: ** _

_**Sperm-percentage: 5%** _

_**Sperm-mobility: Dreadful** _

_**Overall: INFERTILE** _

__

_**Ova:** _

_**Ova-count: 17** _

_**fertile ova: 1** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_**Done by: Marc Scribner~** _

__

"Isn't the normal ova count much lower?" my father asked, surprised by the high number.

"Usually it is between three and ten," Healer Scribner answered. "But," he added, "if a Foreas is magically very powerful the number of ova increases. As far as I know, the highest number of ova was twenty-one, but that was some hundred years ago."

"And before you ask, Harry," Healer Scribner addressed me. "A Foreas only has one to two fertile ova at a time but usually it's only one. But unlike with the female ova they're pregnable for more than one day. They stay pregnable for ten years after which the next ovum will become fertile," he explained.

"Ah, okay. Thank you, Healer Scribner," I said as we took our leave.

On our way to the Floo, I asked my father, "Ehm, dad?"

"Yes, Harry?" he answered, slowing down his steps so that we could talk more easily.

"Does being only partly fertile mean that I don't have to braid my hair yet?" I asked, unsure about the exact rules of the tradition.

"No, you start braiding tomorrow," he answered. "The braid signals that a Foreas is able to conceive children and not to sire them. So, with you having one fertile ovum, you're considered fertile," he explained.

Therefore, when Draco walked into my room the next morning, I asked him to put my hair into a braid and while he was surprised about the news, he didn't hesitate to grab my brush to get the braiding done. And while the rest of my friends, like Draco, congratulated me on my new status, Ronald Weasley couldn't help himself but to make fun of me, calling me girly and other more immature things.

And Blaise? He was suddenly more distant to me than ever. Apparently he didn't like that he wasn't the only fertile Foreas in Slytherin house anymore. The twins had their own theory about his behaviour. According to them, Blaise had hoped that I would turn out to be infertile, which would have allowed him to take my place as our Lord's fiancé. And while I didn't agree with them, time would show that the Weasley twins hadn't been too far off track with their assumption.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And that's how I started to wear my shoulder lenght hair in a braid in symbol of my fertility in the same year that I was forced to stop sharing a room with my best friend Draco. However, it didn't stop Draco—hair obsessed Malfoy he is—from entering my room every morning so that he could braid my hair for me because my own handiwork was apparently too sloppy for his high standard.


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** Ron is being a git and teenagers exploring their sexuality.

 **AN:** The poll concerning the Triwizard Tournament is now closed. The final vote is 60% for the inclusion of the tournament. So you'll get it in the second, romantic, HEA arc. There's no room for it in this arc.

Also I changed Firebolt in chapter 8 to Nimbus 2000. Don't know why I mixed up the names of the brooms.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **10** **-~-~-**

When are romantic and sexual feelings appropriative when your fiancé is a young teenage boy and you're a sixty-something-year old wizard? When the boy in question is able to procreate? When he starts to have romantic feelings for his much older fiancé? When the boy's sexual dreams have you as the star? Or when he becomes of age on his seventeenth birthday? Or only after he graduates from school?

If you take into account that the Wizarding World is rather old-fashioned, you may assume that it still accepts the practice of pederasty, where the boy being thirteen or fourteen was considered old enough to be involved with another, older man. However, even in the magical world pederasty has been out of fashion for the last twelve-hundred years. So a socially approved answer to the above question didn't exist.

But because Tom was also Lord Slytherin, he went with the safest option and waited until I became of age to openly show what he felt for me, even though he would occasionally worry about the age difference between us which was made worse by him not being able to openly show his affection.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Friday, 12.11.1993, 9 pm, Slytherin Manor**

Tom Riddle couldn't help himself but to smile, when he sat in his study on the night of my fertility test. In retrospect, I can understand why he had been so amused about the memory of my Floo call in the morning. My, from embarrassment, red cheeks coupled with the stuttering when I told him that I had my first wet dream, really must have been an amusing sight.

Reading my test results, Tom was more than surprised when he saw the unusually high number of ova I possessed. _Harry is really special, isn't he?_ Tom thought as he took a sip of his wine. Grabbing his wand, Tom called his copy of Blaise's test results over to him. Like a little boy, he was eager to compare my results with the ones from my year mate.

_ **FERTILITY-TEST-RESULTS** _

_**Patient:** _ _**Blaise Zabini** _

_**Date of Birth:** _ _**12** _ _**.** _ _**10** _ _**.19** _ _**79** _

_**Test date:** _ _**08** _ _**.** _ _**07** _ _**.1993** _

_ **Semen:** _

_**Sperm-percentage:** _ _**97** _ _**%** _

_**Sperm-mobility:** _ _**Exceeds Expectations** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_ **Ova:** _

_**Ova-count:** _ _**5** _

_**fertile ova: 1** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_**Done by: Marc Scribner~** _

_Thank Merlin that Zabini_ _was_ _n't the prophesied child,_ Tom thought at the end of his comparison. _Judging by the number of ova, Zabini is a rather week wizard, while Harry must be really powerful,_ he mused, more than ever assured of his decision to make me his spouse.

 _And while unlike Harry_ _'s_ _, Zabini's sperm is already fertile_ _, it doesn't say much about their_ _overall_ _fertility. After all, Zabini is nearly a whole year older than Harry, so it is to be expected that Harry would be a bit behind,_ Tom defended me. _Besides, haven't I not_ _too_ _long_ _ago read an American study where they said that Afro-American boys are usually one year ahead in their development? Regarded like this, Zabini is actually the one who is behind on his way to manhood,_ Tom mused with a satisfactory smirk, happy that he had twisted the test results to his liking.

 _N_ _ow, what to send Harry as a gift?_ Tom asked himself, playing with the silver-green hair-band he'd brought for the occasion months ago. With the revelation of how high my ova count was, the hair-band suddenly looked too insignificant.

 _There is the prototype of the Firebolt, which I could try to get for Harry,_ Tom mused. _But I don't want anything happening to him because of a flaw in the test model,_ he dismissed the idea for a present. _Besides, Harry already has the Nimbus 2000 and 2001. He clearly doesn't need another broom this year_ , he thought, remembering how Lucius had bought new brooms for the whole Slytherin team after his son became a Chaser for his house.

Once again his eyes drifted to the simple but elegant hair-band in his hand. _The hair-band together with_ _another charm for Harry's bracelet?_ he wondered. _No, he already has more than enough_ _c_ _harms on that bracelet,_ Tom thought, resigned as he recalled the last time he saw the jewellery he bought me as a starting Hogwarts gift.

Opening my Christmas presents in first year had been fun, kind of. Apparently every one of my closet friends and family had exactly the same idea about what to give me, a charm for my new bracelet. It was fun when I saw that both Draco and Sirius had decided to give me a charm which represented them. But after also my father and Remus gave me a charm, opening presents became rather dull for me. What was the fun in opening them if you already knew that it would be yet another charm.

However, spoiling the fun in being surprised aside, I treasured every charm on my bracelet: The dragon from Draco, the lily from my mother, the stag from my father, the dog from Sirius, the green potion bottle from Severus, the moon with a wolf from Remus and the Snitch which I surprisingly got from the Weasley twins as well as the snake and lightening bolt Tom had given me. Though, I had the feeling that Draco bullied Severus into buying the charm for me as it wasn't something my godfather would normally do by himself. Besides, I don't think that he would reduce himself to his Potions skills. A simple 'S' for his name would have been more like him.

" _Why_ _are_ _you look_ _ing_ _so gloomy?"_ Nagini suddenly spoke up, interrupting Tom's musings.

" _I don't know what to give Harry as a present_ _for_ _having become procreative,"_ Tom told his familiar.

" _Haven't you gotten him something already?"_ his snake asked, remembering a comment her master had made months ago.

" _I have. But it doesn't seem enough now,"_ Tom explained his current dilemma.

" _Just impregnate him. Nothing can be a better present than offspring of your own,"_ Nagini suggested the first thing she could think off.

The face Tom made when he heard her proposition was hilarious to say the least―shock mixed with a pinch of disbelieve, embarrassment, and lust. However, Nagini's suggestion still had the desired result; it solved Tom's problem. Her offhanded comment made him realise that giving me a big gift, just because I now was able to bear his children could send the wrong message. While initially he had chosen me as his fiancé because of the prophecy Severus had overheard, over the years he had started to value and maybe even love me for who I was―me, Harry James Potter. Sending me an overly large present could easily be misunderstood as him seeing me as nothing more than a broodmare for his offspring; something which really wasn't the case.

" _You know what, I'll just send him the hair-band,"_ Tom informed Nagini as he placed the band back into its box and began to write his congratulation letter to me, which he would sent off in the morning.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 13.11.1993, Great Hall, Hogwarts**

I was enjoying my shepherd's pie when an owl interrupted my dinner, demanding my attention by picking at my new braid.

"Patience, **Belenus*** , patience!" I said to the beautiful, but impatient Indian Eagle-Owl as I laid down my fork.

"She's beautiful," Pansy Parkinson commented from my left.

"It's a he, actually," I corrected my classmate as I freed the bird from the letter and small box it carried.

"Whose owl is he?" Pansy asked, wanting to get a clue if the owl would be amiable to being petted.

"Tom's," I answered absently, busy petting the owl myself, and only belatedly realised that I used Tom's given name. "Eh, I mean Lord Slytherin's," I quickly corrected.

"Oh," Pansy said, sad that she wouldn't be able to pet the owl she obviously adored.

Seeing her saddened face, I contemplated coaxing Belenus into allowing Pansy to pet him, but I quickly dismissed the thought. Tom had bought Belenus last April and, as far as I knew, the owl was trained to not let anyone but Tom pet him. This was important because Tom used the owl mainly for private letters which shouldn't be intercepted by anyone. Besides, it wouldn't be good for Lord Slytherin's image if his personal owl was a cuddler. No, Belenus needed to be the perfect image of an unapproachable, proud owl.

So imagine my father's surprise when he received a letter from Tom in the first week of the summer holidays and Belenus demanded me to pet him.

"Ah, Harry," Sirius had crooned that day. "You not only have his snake wrapped around your little finger, but also his owl," he said as he ruffled my hair. And then he raised his eyebrow suggestively and continued, "Makes me wonder what you've got wrapped around him in return."

"Sirius!" my mother chastened him for the bad innuendo. "If you can't behave, you won't get to eat any more of my cakes."

"But, Lily. Your cakes are the best. Surely you won't deny an old friend," Sirius pleaded, puppy dog eyes and all.

In the end, my godfather still continued to eat my mother's cakes and cookies but only because she knew that otherwise he would just steal Remus' portion.

"Your test results must have been rather poor if your fiancé is so late in sending you a gift," Ronald Weasley interrupted my trip down memory lane.

"You didn't read the newspaper today, did you?" Draco asked Weasley rhetorically. "If you had, you would know that there was an emergency in the early hours of the morning which demanded Lord Slytherin's attention. And since saving people from Greyback and his pack is more important than owling gifts, it's only understandable that the present is a bit late," Draco came to my defence before I could say anything myself.

"Oh, really?" the redhead questioned, not wanting to give up just yet. "If Potter's test result really isn't as poor as I believe it to be, then the little box should contain a rather expensive gift, shouldn't it?" he said, daring me to open Tom's gift in the middle of the Great Hall instead of in the privacy of my room.

"Money isn't everything, you know?" I answered him. I really couldn't understand why something should only be valuable because it was expensive. It was the intention and the meaning behind something which really counted. I would prefer one of my mother's self-made birthday cakes to an expensive one made by a popular French pastry chef any day.

"Huff. You're only saying this because you know how bad your test result was and fear that you only got a cheap present out of obligation," Ron said full of arrogance.

"And you're only saying this because your family is so poor that you can think about nothing but money," Draco immediately countered.

"Say that again," Ron threatened, pointing his now raised wand at Draco, whose robes he'd grabbed with his free hand.

"Mr Weasley," my godfather's voice interrupted before the situation could get out of hand. "If you can't behave yourself, you better leave right now before I add a detention to the 10 points you already lost."

"You're just lucky that Snape's your godfather," Ron said to Draco and I, as he let go of my friend's robes and turned around to walk back to the Gryffindor table.

"Finally," I said with a sigh, stealing a piece of rabbit meat from Draco's plate to my right to feed it to Belenus while the blond was distracted with watching Weasley return to his own table.

"Hey, don't steal my meal!" Draco complained when he noticed a moment later that part of his meat was missing.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Draco. It's just a piece of meat," I said as I broke of another piece of the meat to feed it to Belenus. "Besides, it's not like I can feed him my shepherd's pie," I explained why I stole from his plate but Draco still looked a bit put out.

"Don't you want to open your present?" Pansy asked me after I fed the last piece of meat to the owl, who flew off again.

"Later." I really wasn't in the mood for everyone to gawk at what Tom had gotten me, especially not after Weasley's stunt awoke the interest of the whole Great Hall.

"Don't tell me that your result really was that dreadful," Blaise more stated than asked me.

"It wasn't," I said, annoyed that everyone seemed to be overly interested in my _confidential_ result. After pushing the box and letter into one of my pockets, I quickly finished my pie before I left the Great Hall to get some peace.

When I was finally back in my room, I let myself fall down into one of the comfy armchairs and closed my eyes for some minutes, trying to relax. Opening my eyes again, I picked out the small boy and eagerly opened it. I was surprised when I saw that the box contained a silver-green hair-band. Somehow, all the talk about an expensive gift had made me unconsciously expect jewellery of some kind. _But when I think about it,_ _I really don't need any more jewellery,_ I thought as I removed the hair-band from the box.

 _It will go well with my school robes,_ I mused, then laughing when I realised that it was due to the fact that I was in Slytherin house and engaged to Lord Slytherin. _Of course, the colours would be identically,_ I thought.

After playing a bit with the hair-band, I laid it back into its box and opened Tom's letter.

_**~Congratulation Harry,** _

_**Your test result is really remarkable. I don't know when I last saw such a high ova count. Your classmate's count was by far lower, but don't tell him that; the information is supposed to be confidential. And don't worry that your semen isn't fertile yet. You're just thirteen, it will become fertile soon enough. Besides, fertility doesn't define a person. It is his heart and actions that count. And you, Harry have always been a very lovable child.** _

_**Also, I hope that you like your new hair-band. When I saw it at a bazaar in Marrakesh, I had to think about your ever growing hair and how you constantly brushed the strands out of your face when you visited me. Since it is now time for you to braid your hair, I hope that you'll wear it often and think of me.** _

_**Love,** _

_**Tom** _

_**P.S.: Nagini sends her love too. ~** _

With a fond smile on my face I refolded the letter and just closed my eyes, relaxing easily in the embrace of the warm, positive feelings I got from Tom's words.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Tuesday, 22.03.1994, 1:53 am**

I was slowly drawn out of my dream by soft touches to my face. The closer I came to wakefulness, the more details I was able to make out. I realised that a hand was stroking my hair while lips were covering my left cheek with kisses, slowly moving from near my eye to my lips.

When the lips finally reached my own, I opened my eyes and was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Tom was the one who was kissing me in the soft light of the morning. In a smooth transition, I went from my dream induced daze to another, more pleasant daze, created by how good Tom's lips felt against my own.

"Hmm," I hummed into the kiss, enjoying how his lips caressed my bottom lip and then started to respond to Tom's advances. Lifting my right hand to his hair, I grabbed the strands to move his head even closer to my own, wanting―no needing―for the kiss to deepen.

Becoming out of breath, I opened my lips, but instead of the much needed air Tom's tongue found its way into my mouth. I was overwhelmed by the sensations his tongue invoked as it caressed the roof of my mouth, which felt even more intense due to my lack of oxygen. Just as I was about to pass out from the lack of air, Tom finally released my lips, allowing me to take in big gulps of air as he moved his mouth to my neck.

The feeling of his lips against the skin of my neck didn't make catching my breath easier. If it was possible, I got even more out of breath. "Urgh," I groaned in pleasure, when Tom found my sensitive spot, where my neck met my shoulder and sucked at it with his mouth.

Noticing my reaction, he didn't hesitate to pay special attention to that spot and cover it with kisses, licks and sucks. I couldn't do anything else than to let out moans of pleasure, grabbing his hair even tighter with my right hand, while my left hand searched for footing in the bedcover, but ended up being buried in Tom's robes.

When his hand moved from my shoulder to my sides, the sensation overload became too much. The tingling feeling his hand created on my sides, the massage of my hair by his other hand together with his oh so arousing kisses brought me over the edge and I screamed a hoarse "Ah, Tom," and came in my pyjamas.

When I came down from my post-orgasm high, I opened my eyes, only to notice that I was alone in my bedroom at Hogwarts with no sign of Tom. Looking out the window, I saw that it was still the middle of the night.

 _It was only a dream,_ I thought sadly as I touched my lips with my right index finger, remembering how enjoyable the dream kisses had felt. _If it only had been real,_ was my wishful thinking. But when I imagined kissing Tom in real life, I felt how my cheeks turned warm from embarrassment. As much as I would love to kiss and make out with Tom, I knew that I would be neither bold nor brave enough to initiate anything.

And while I was sure that Tom wouldn't run into problems if he wanted to start down another road in our relationship, I knew that he still saw me as only a child. _So he wouldn't be_ _taking_ _the first step_ _._ _N_ _ot yet_ _anyway_ _,_ I thought. It was clear from how he treated me during the summer that while he certainly like me, it wasn't in a romantic sense. It was more liked an uncle would care for his nephew, finding his behaviour cute and sweet but never arousing or exciting. _But I'm his fiancé, aren't I? So after I lose my childish face, he will surely start to return my feelings,_ I hoped as I got out of the bed to clean up the mess in my pyjama pants in the bathroom.

 _At least_ _I can remember my dream,_ I thought, remembering the other times I'd woken up with a wet spot in my pants with no idea about what had brought me to orgasm. Getting comfortable again, I closed my eyes and let sleep claim me once again, dreaming of Tom and soft kisses.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The next evening, as I lay alone in my bed, curiosity got the better of me and I closed my eyes as I started to touch myself. Remembering my dream from the night before, I started to draw circles on my sensitive neck with my left index finger, while my right hand was caressing my sides, imagining that they were Tom's hands and not mine.

As my cock hardened, both of my hands moved further down my body. My left hand wandered under my pyjama top and touched the area of my stomach, while my right hand found its way inside my pyjama pants. As I touched my erect cock for the first time, it felt both familiar and new; forgetting all about Tom in favour of discovering my changed body.

My penis was slightly longer than I remembered, and while it was also harder than usual the skin felt as soft as ever. Experimentally, I moved my hand up and down my cock, trying to get a feeling for the amount of pressure I liked best. Imaging once again that it was Tom who was doing the wonderful things to me, I instinctively caressed the tip of my cock, enjoying the feeling of my thumb against the slit, feeling how I got closer and closer to orgasm. The harder my cock got, the faster and more desperate my strokes became. I couldn't describe how I felt seconds before orgasm overcame me. I was feeling both hot and cold at once, while my stomach muscles were contracting and fluttering.

"Tom," I moaned out, only seconds later when I was finally overcome by my first, self-invoked orgasm. I fell asleep from exhaustion before I could clean up the mess I made.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 06.04.1994, 5:27 pm, Hogwarts**

"Harry James Potter! Open that goddamn door NOW!" I heard Draco yell at the portrait of the Ouroborus that guarded my room as I rounded the corner to my quarters.

"Calm down, Dragon," I called out to him before he could damage the portrait.

"You said you wanted to study for the Herbology test," Draco accused me when he saw that I wasn't in my rooms where I told him I would be until dinner. "And don't call me Dragon, my name is Draco!"

"I got hungry and went to the kitchen," I informed Draco when I finally reached him. "What do you need?" I asked as I stepped around Draco to hiss " _Dumbledore is insane_ " to the portrait, which opened at the correct password.

When Draco heard me speak Parseltongue for the first time in the middle of September, I had two choices. Number one, just telling him that I was a Parselmouth like Lord Slytherin. Number two, lying and saying that Tom had practised with me until I got the pronunciation of the password right. While I really wanted to tell Draco the truth, I also had promised Tom that I would tell no one about my gift. In the end, I decided to not keep it a secret from him any longer. After all, there was no one in the world who I trusted more than Draco. He was my best friend, the brother I would never have, my rock to hold onto.

"So what's got you yelling like a mad man?" I asked after we settled down in the two armchairs.

Not even a moment later I regretted ever saying a word. Like he was possessed, Draco jumped up from his armchair, took two big strides to get in front of me and then grabbed my arms and began shaking me while he simultaneously yelled at me, "Harry James Potter! How could you have lied about your Potter crest! All these years I believed it to be a cool tattoo and now I learn that your father branded it into your skin with a spell that brought you horrible pain!"

"Really, Harry, how could you have kept something like this from me?" Draco asked, finally having let go of me in favour of pacing before me. "I would have tried to help you through it if I had known earlier," he said, looking at me with moist eyes. It was obvious that he was hurt about my silence all those years ago.

"But Draco," I interrupted before Draco could get into a rant, "you did help." This fortunately caught his attention and I started to explain. "If it hadn't been for you and how cool you found my crest, I really don't know what I would have done. Yes, branding the crest into my forearm did hurt like hell and I really hated my father for about a month for doing it. But what was even more important was that at least one person, the most important person in my life, actually found something positive about it. All my parents and godfathers saw in it was nothing more than an evil mark, which in turn made me feel like it was something detestable. But _you_ , the naïve and impressionable seven year old was actually jealous of it. _You_ were the one who made me think that it actually could be something more than just a symbol of ownership and pain, that it could be something to show that one is proud to be part of the family, that it makes one look more mysterious and interesting," I ended with a chuckle, remembering my silly thoughts as a child.

"I certainly wasn't naïve," Draco huffed.

"I beg to differ. Remember how Sirius distracted you with the promise of a moving dragon tattoo to stop your constant pleas to get your own Malfoy crest?" I asked.

"That wasn't naïve, that was grasping a good opportunity since it got me all the Muggle kids tattoos," he countered, finally having sat down in his armchair.

"If you say so," was all I said on the matter. "But seriously, I really didn't want to scare you with how much it did hurt when we were seven. I actually was worried that you would think that my dad was a bad father, if I remember correctly," I told my friend. "Besides, didn't your parents explain to you the meaning of the crest when you were eleven?" I asked, wondering why he only now seemed to be mad about me having omitted that the branding had been painful.

"They did. But what they forgot to say was how exactly the Claiming Ritual worked. I only found out about it today," Draco explained, answering my question.

"I really don't want to brand my future wife," Draco said after minutes of silence, both of us having been lost in our own thoughts.

"But you'll have to if she'd already been marked by her father," I said.

"I know," Draco answered with a groan. It was clear that he really detested the practice of the Claiming Ritual. "And to think that you'll have to go though it once again when you marry Lord Slytherin," Draco added, feeling for me.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that he, like my father, will choose a place which only leaves a small mark," I answered, confidently.

"Oh, I believe you that he would love to do just that, but since he is our lord, he will be forced to choose one of the two traditional places for the marking," Draco pointed out the fact I overlooked.

"Great," I groaned. "Why did you have to burst my happy bubble?" I asked rhetorically.

"Why don't we go down to the Great Hall and cheer you up with some treacle tart?" Draco asked.

"Okay," I said. "It's not like I can study anymore for the test right now anyway."

And with that we left the room, unaware that a third person had listened in to our conversation.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 06.04.1994, 6:03 pm, Slytherin Manor**

" _Where is Nagijan?!"_ Nagini accused more than asked Tom when he stepped out of his office's fireplace.

" _Not now!"_ was Tom's short and harsh answer as he let himself fall down in his chair. After letting out a sigh, he opened his hidden liqueur cabinet under his desk and took out a glass and a bottle of his favourite whiskey.

" _You must be really troubled if you take out your alcohol,"_ Nagini commented as she moved up Tom's chair as he filled his glass half-full. " _Is something wrong with Harry?"_ she asked, worried about my well-being.

" _No, just with me being Lord Slytherin,"_ Tom said after having taken a big gulp of his whiskey.

" _But you enjoy being Lord Slytherin!"_ Nagini exclaimed, not understanding what was wrong.

" _Normally, yes,_ " Tom agreed. " _But even Malfoy junior knows that_ _this position will only bring Harry_ _more_ _pain_ _then necessary_ _,_ " he explained, making it obvious that he really didn't want to hurt me.

" _Why_ _?"_ Nagini asked. _"Shouldn't your position as Lord Slytherin give you even more power to protect Harry?"_

" _I'm sure that you noticed the black mark on Harry's arm?"_ Tom asked, and without waiting for Nagini's answer, continued. _"_ _It shows his father's family crest._ _When I marry Harry, I'll give him my_ _crest_ _to show that he's mine._ _And while I won't deny that I_ _'d_ _love to see Harry claimed as mine,"_ Tom admitted, thinking about the lightning bolt earrings I wore, _"branding one's crest into another's skin is very painful._ _And the bigger the crest is, the longer and more painful the procedure will be._ "

" _Then just give him a small one, where everyone can see it,"_ Nagini advised.

" _That's the problem with being Lord Slytherin,"_ Tom said with a sigh, taking a sip of his whiskey. " _I'll have no choice but to mark_ _Harry_ _on either his chest or his_ _behind_ _. And there, the mark will be as big as my hand,"_ he said full of remorse, emptying the rest of his whiskey in one go.

" _You really care about Harry,_ " Nagini stated, moving closer to Tom, wanting to comfort him.

" _I do,"_ Tom said, petting Nagini's head, getting lost in his thoughts.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When Tom lay awake half an hour later in his bed, it was hard for him to believe that one overheard conversation could work him up so much.

 _I_ _just wanted to do Nagini a favour and pick up Nagijan for her_ _._ _It was pure coincidence_ _that I_ _was just_ _us_ _ing_ _the bathroom while I waited for Harry's return, when Malfoy screamed at the door._ _Fortunately Harry let him in before I left the bedroom,_ Tom thought. He was sure that neither I nor Draco would have spoken so freely had we known that he was listening to our talk.

But what was keeping him awake wasn't Draco's comment about my impending branding. That frustrating topic he'd already digested during his short talk with Nagini. No, it was because of my words that sleep evaded him.

_'_ _the most important person in my life_ _'_

Tom couldn't deny that it'd hurt when he heard me say the words when it wasn't him I was referring to. He wished that he was the most important person in my life. Even though we hadn't spent much time together over the years, I still had wormed my way into his heart. And deep down, Tom hoped that he was as important to me as I was to him.

 _But then, people who eavesdrop can't complain when they don't like what they hear,_ Tom thought with a bitter smile.

 _Harry and I only spend one_ _or two_ _week_ _s_ _together each year, and even then, I don't see him all day long,_ Tom tried to rationalise, thinking back about my yearly summer visits. _Malfoy, on the other hand, spends nearly every day with him. It's no wonder that they're close. Besides, there's still the age difference between us,_ he argued, resolving to spend more time with me in the future.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 30.04.1994, Slytherin Manor**

" _Finally,_ " Nagini complained as Tom stepped through the fireplace in his office with Nagijan in tow. It had taken him nearly a month, but finally he'd been able to clear his schedule enough to spend a good two hours with me at Hogwarts, talking, joking and just enjoying each other's company.

" _Hello beautiful,"_ Nagijan greeted Tom's snake, moving closer to her. It was obvious that not only I, but also Nagijan had become fertile during my third year at Hogwarts. However, unlike me, Nagijan wasn't afraid to make the first move as he gave Nagini the snake version of a kiss before she could even return his greeting.

" _Let's go into the library,"_ Nagini said, leading the way. Apparently all the talk about me being able to get pregnant had made her yearn for some offspring of her own.

" _Oh, yes,_ " my snake agreed, following after his love interest.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Three hours later, Nagijan returned to the office, where Tom was answering some letters. " _It's a good thin_ _g_ _that you came to visit today,"_ Nagijan informed Tom. " _Harry and Draco's little tryst_ _yesterday made me all horny._ "

A big, black line ruined the letter Tom had been composing. " _What did you say?"_ Tom asked. Surely he had misheard Nagijan's last sentence.

" _I said that Harry and Draco's activities last evening made me all horny,"_ Nagijan repeated.

Tom took a deep breath to control his rising fury. He couldn't believe that I would have fun between the sheets with Draco and then calmly have tea with him the very next day. Standing up, Tom paced around the room to let out some steam. By the seventh round, Tom was controlled enough to think more clearly.

 _Surely Nagijan must have misinterpreted something,_ he reasoned. _Harry is so_ _bashful, he wouldn't have been able to look me in the eyes if he really had cheated_ _on_ _me with_ _Malfoy_ _;_ _less keep his face from turning red,_ Tom rightly presumed my behaviour.

 _But still...I'm already sixty-seven, maybe Harry doesn't find me attractive at all?_ He worried, looking at his body's reflection in the window. While he certainly looked older than me, his appearance was still youthful. One wouldn't guess him older than twenty-five, twenty-seven at the most.

 _..._ _Or is it the hair?_ he wondered, mentally comparing his black hair to Draco's light blond. _Or maybe Harry is in love with Malfoy?_ Tom wondered, that one little sentence about Draco being my most important person which he overheard not even a month ago still haunting him.

" _Maybe you should ask Harry what they've been talking about?"_ Nagijan interrupted Tom's musings before he could come up with other faults. _"_ _They were talking_ _nearly_ _the_ _whole_ _time_ _,_ " he added, hoping that it would appease Tom. As much as he liked Tom, Nagijan still liked me more and didn't want to get me in trouble with my fiancé.

At the last part Tom turned around. _They had mostly talked?_ He questioned, hope rising up in his chest. _Maybe Nagijan really had misinterpreted the whole thing,_ Tom thought. The idea of going back to Hogwarts to question me about the whole thing was getting more appealing by the minute. Especially since it was becoming very unlikely that I and Draco did have sex if we were talking so much. But still, he couldn't completely let go of all his doubts and worries of me preferring Drao over him.

After a glance at the clock it was decided. Tom would go to Hogwarts and ask me about what Nagini had seen yesterday.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard the Floo in the sitting room. Wondering if Nagijan and Nagini had been in a row, forcing Tom to bring my snake back earlier than previously agreed on, I opened the door to the sitting room only dressed in a towel. Since Tom was the only one who could use the Floo, I wasn't bothered about my lack of clothing. Actually, I secretly hoped that seeing me in my state of undress would make Tom realise that I wasn't a child anymore.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, noticing with disappointment that Tom hadn't any problems with keeping his eyes well above my chest.

"It depends..." he began. "Nagijan told me something which I think we should talk about," Tom said, making me wonder what exactly my snake had told him.

"What did he tell you?" I asked after a minute when Tom didn't elaborate.

"He told me that your and Malfoy's actions had made him very aroused last night," he said in a voice far too monotone for my likening.

When I registered what event Tom was referring to, my face turned redder than red. I couldn't believe that Nagijan had watched me and Draco yesterday and even worse, had told Tom about it. "Do we have to talk about it?" I asked, very embarrassed about the direction our talk was taking.

"I believe that it would be better," Tom answered, his voice still too calm. "The way Nagijan described the event, doesn't paint it in a good light. But maybe you should get dressed first before you catch a cold," he said the last part offhandedly.

With a nod, I turned around and went into the bedroom, happy for the opportunity to think about how much I wanted to tell Tom. I was aware that some things Draco and I had done the previous evening could be misinterpreted when taken out of context. But to think that Tom would even think of the idea that I cheated on him with Draco when in truth I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me.

As I put on a pair of comfy, dark grey track pants, I pondered if it was a good sign that Tom came here probably right after Nagijan told him about the event. On the one hand, I was happy that Tom wanted to hear my side of the story first before he took any actions. But on the other hand, not knowing whether jealousy or simple possessiveness was the motivation behind his actions drove me crazy.

If it was jealousy, then I could hope that Tom returned my feelings at least to an extent. But if it was possessiveness, then I feared that right now I meant nothing more to him than being someone who would give him a legal heir in the future. Thinking back about the nice talk we had this afternoon, I dismissed my last thought. _If I was nothing more than I broodmare to him, then he wouldn't have bothered to spend some time with me today._ _Maybe_ _in his head_ _I just haven't crossed the line between being a child and being his lover yet?_ I wondered as I put on a long sleeved shirt.

With all the thinking I did about Tom's motivation, it wasn't surprising that by the time I returned to the sitting room I still hadn't the slightest idea what to tell Tom.

"So?" Tom asked, prompting me to begin speaking after I'd slumped down in one of the armchairs, while he was still standing near the fireplace.

"Ehm...well..yeah...," I stammered out, my face having turned red once again in seconds. Taking a deep breath, I focused my gaze on the sleeves of my shirt and tried to explain what Nagijan had witnessed. "You see...Draco and I had been talking yesterday evening," I began. "And after a while the topic changed to what all the other boys down in the dorm are discussing. And yeah...ehm...I'm sure you can imagine what they talk about," I trailed off, too embarrassed to just say 'wanking'.

"Quidditch and girls," Tom said, staring at me. "But I don't see how this should have an effect on Nagijan," he added, his voice sounding cold in my ears.

"Merlin, Tom," I suddenly screamed in anger, getting up from the armchair. "Draco and I just talked about bloody wanking, okay?" I yelled, the anger winning over my initial embarrassment.

 _Why does he have to make it so hard for me?_ I wondered in frustration, when I slumped back down in the armchair, my hands running through my still wet hair in annoyance.

Finally realising that he overstepped some line, Tom decided to sit down in the other armchair to lessen some of the tension in the room. But this action was fruitless as he raised the tension to a new level with the next words he spoke, "You must have done more than just talking to have aroused Nagijan."

Oh, how I would have liked to jump up and grab Tom by the collar of his robes to scream some more at him, but after my previous outburst I had no energy left. So instead, I drew up my knees to my chest, buried my head in my hands and began to elaborate, not caring that my voice came out muffled.

"Draco and I talked about what the other boys liked to do during wanking," I began. "And then we wondered who of us had the bigger cock, so we decided to compare them. Nothing more," I explained, leaving out that we had been tempted to explore our prostates as well as my Forea's opening and Draco's lack of the same, but in the end we both had been too grossed out by the idea of touching faeces to do it.

"Nagijan must have just been affected by the hormones in the air," I tried to find a reason for Nagijan's statement to Tom. "I mean we didn't even touch each other," I added as an after though, finally looking up at Tom, who looked sceptically at me.

Noticing that he would need a moment to ponder about what I'd just told him, I silently watched the dance of the flames in the fireplace, waiting for Tom to begin speaking.

After about a minute, I heard Tom getting up from his armchair, making me fear that he wanted to leave me because he didn't believe what I'd told him and still doubted that nothing had happened between Draco and I. But instead of walking towards the fireplace to take his leave, Tom walked over to my armchair, kneeling down to my right.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable," he apologized as he lay a hand on my knee. "It's just that I know that you and Malfoy are very close and since you didn't chose to be my fiancé..." he trailed of, the unspoken "I wouldn't be surprised if you slept with someone else" screaming loudly in our minds, forcing me to close my eyes before a tear could escape from them.

And just as I started to say, "But I really want to be your fiancé," Tom had already taken the three steps to the fireplace and was Flooing back to his manor, my words going unheard.

Emotionally exhausted, I couldn't do anything more than to curl up in a small ball and cry. Crying that my beloved Tom would even consider that I would want anyone other than him. Crying because the wanking tips Draco gave me had brought me pleasure yesterday but only heartache today. And crying because I was too late to say that I wanted only Tom.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The next evening I sat in front of the fireplace, patiently waiting for Tom to Floo over to bring Nagijan back. When the flames finally turned green shortly after eight, I stood up from my place on the floor.

"Hello, Harry," Tom greeted me, as Nagijan slid down from his shoulders.

"Hello, Tom," I greeted back shyly. And then I tentatively asked, "Are we okay?"

"We are," Tom assured me with a smile. "I may have reacted a bit harshly yesterday because of all the stress I had from Greyback's latest attacks," he explained. "But I believe you that nothing did happen between you and Malfoy. So don't worry," he said, ruffling my hair affectionately.

"Please wait a moment," I called out, when Tom was already turning around to Floo back home.

"Yes?" he asked, turning around again to face me.

Taking a step forward, I grabbed Tom's right hand. "While I didn't chose to be your fiancé, I'm really happy that you are the one that I'll marry," I told him sincerely. "I know that we don't spend much time together, but still there is no one else I would rather marry. Not even Draco," I added, wanting―no needing Tom to know that he was the only one for me.

"Harry I don't think...," he began in a voice that made me fear that he wanted to say that I was too young to know this for sure, but then he suddenly stopped himself. I don't know if it was the look on my face or if he used Legilimency on me but instead of finishing his previous sentence, he said, "I'm glad to hear this," and kissed me on top of my head. Everything between us seemed to be right again. Even if he still treated me like a child instead of his fiancé and lover like I wanted him to do.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And this is how I spent my third year in Hogwarts. Fortunately the rest of my remaining years at Hogwarts spun away without any more misunderstandings between Tom and I. So while I was having fun with my friends, playing Quidditch, stressing over my OWLs and NEWTs, I was counting down the days until I would be finally able to be together with my fiancé and that he would finally see me as an adult, an equal.

Oh, if Tom or I had known what Dumbledore had up his sleeve, we may have been able to prevent what happened in the following months.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Belenus:** The Celtic sun god. Chosen because the main body and the underside of the wings of the Indian Eagle-Owl are mainly in a light brown colour.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Next chapter:** In March or April.


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Warnings for this chapter:** It's more or less a filler chapter...However it has some small limes in it.

 **AN:** Sorry for the delay. Life was so busy and stressful in the last few weeks that I could hardly find a calm moment to sit down and write.

FYI, we have about 6 chapters left before the new arc will start, so prepare yourself for some tissue-moments for the coming chapters. But for now enjoy the Flashbacks or as I like to call this chapter: How Harry finally got his make out sessions with Tom. ;)

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **1** **1** **-~-~-**

" _There is a good reason they call these ceremonies 'commencement exercises'. Graduation is not the end, it's the beginning."_ Orrin Hatch (US Senator)

As I sat in the Great Hall, waiting to receive my NEWTs I couldn't agree more with Hatch's statement about graduation. While it marked the end of my time at Hogwarts, it was also the day which would mark the beginning of my new and much more open relationship with Tom. The day which would bring me one step closer to my wedding day.

But alas, unbeknown to me at that time, it in reality was the beginning of the end. The beginning to my misery which I would experience in the coming months. And all that thanks to one Albus Dumbledore who was scheming and plotting and setting things into motion while I was busy studying for my NEWTs and Tom did his best to finish off Fenrir Greyback and his pack for good.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 27th June 1998, Great Hall, Hogwarts**

I knew that it wasn't nice to daydream and to get lost in memory lane as your two friends stood in front of a big audience, giving their graduation speeches. But opposed to everyone else in the room, I'd already heard Draco's and Hermione's speech twice as both insisted that they needed to practice it in front of me or in Hermione's case, someone who'd already heard the Head Boy's speech to ensure that her speech wouldn't overlap with his.

So, instead of listening once again what a great opportunity we now have in front of us, I didn't hesitate to take full advantage of the opportunity to drift away. I remembered how I slowly but surely broke down Tom's defences and talked him into becoming more intimate with me over the last few years―at least in private.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Flashbacks**

**Tuesday, 16th August 1994**

After the misunderstanding in April, Tom tried his best to meet with me twice a month even if it was only to have a cup of tea with me for half an hour on Sundays, often bringing a **pregnant Nagini*** with him who was counting they days until she would gave birth. And while my desire to kiss Tom grew with every visit, I was still too afraid to make the first move.

What made it even worse was that I was forced to listen to Nagini and Nagijan talking about how happy they were to soon have offspring of their own, or them just flirting with each other. I couldn't have been any more jealous of Nagijan in those sweet, caring moments between the two snakes as Tom sat beside me on the couch, still treating me like a child.

I'd already spent my allowed two weeks with Tom in the middle of June, but to my dismay Nagini didn't give birth during my stay. It had taken until the middle of August before it was finally time for the babies to come.. When Tom Floo called my house, I and my parents had just come back from a ten days trip to Shrewsbury an hour ago.

"Please, Dad. Can I go to Tom?" I pleaded with my father. He was rather strict when it came to how much time I was allowed to spend _alone_ at Slytherin manor.

"I don't know," he said, unsure what to answer. He feared that if he made an exception to his rule now, I would try to find other reasons to spend additional time with Tom in the future. Like the little snakes needing their father, Nagijan. But on the other hand, my father didn't want to deny me the little visit which would make me very happy.

In the end, my mother solved the dilemma. "How about I accompany you, Harry?" she asked. "I would like to see the snakes too."

"I'm sure Lord Slytherin wouldn't mind," I said, knowing Tom well enough to make that assumption.

"Ask our Lord and if he agrees for your mother to join you, you may visit him," my father decided, happy that I would be happy.

"Thank you, Dad." I thanked him, running back to the Floo to ask Tom, who of course readily agreed to the suggestion.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Come on, Mum," I called as I dragged my mother by the hand from the Entrance Hall of Slytherin Manor towards Tom's study.

 _We would be so much faster if_ _M_ _um_ _too_ _could_ _Floo directly to Tom's_ _study,_ I thought as I ran up the stairs, not wanting to miss even a moment of the birth of the little snakes.

"Are they here yet?" I asked as I pushed open Tom's study door, not even thinking about knocking in my eagerness and ran to the rug near the fireplace where Nagini was resting.

"Soon," Tom said with a smile, finding my childlike excitement endearing, not minding me just barging in.

"My Lord," my mother greeted much more respectfully and in a more grown up manner than mine.

" _Can't a snake get some peace,_ " Nagini complained as she noticed that not only I but also my mother had entered the room.

" _Tom already explained that Harry could only come if his mother could come too,"_ Nagijan calmly explained to Nagini. He'd stayed with Tom during my family trip as he wanted to be there for his mate when she gave birth.

" _Th_ _e_ _n he shouldn't have come,"_ Nagini hissed between a groan of pain, the contractions finally having started.

" _Shh,"_ Nagijan tried to appease her, curling around the other snake's body in a comforting gesture. " _We all know that you want Harry here as much as I do."_

" _Remember to only speak English,_ "Tom reminded me, laying a hand on my shoulder just as I was about to say something to Nagini in Parseltongue, totally having forgotten that my mother was in the room with us.

" _Urgh,"_ Nagini groaned out as she pushed out her first child, which was soon followed by a second one.

"They're so cute," I said as I saw the two little snakes which were nearly as small as my hand.

"Yes, they're very beautiful," my mother agreed.

" _Can_ -Can I touch them?" I asked, barely stopping myself from asking the whole question directly in Parseltongue. Only Tom's tightened grip on my shoulder had reminded me to speak English.

" _I'm sure that you can touch the little hatchlings, Harry,_ " Tom said.

" _Of course,_ " Nagini voiced her agreement. Now where she finally had her two children near her, all the previous pain from giving birth was forgotten.

Gingerly, I stretched out my hand to caress the two little snakes. "There skin is so smooth. Much smoother than even Nagijan's," I commented as I stroked their skin.

"Careful, Harry," Tom chided. "If you continue like this, Nagijan will become jealous of his own children."

My mother laughed at Tom's comment. While I cheekily answered, "Then it's a good thing that Nagijan can't speak English."

"I'm sure he understands some words," Tom said, not tousling my hair like he would have done if we were alone. With my mother in the room with us, he was forced to behave much more formal and reduce the touching to less intimate gestures, like to gently tap my shoulder with his hand, which made me pout.

An hour later, Mum and I were walking back to the Entrance Hall to Floo home.

"You know, I'd been worried for you," Mum told me. Seeing my perplexed look, she elaborated, "I wasn't sure if you marrying our Lord was in your best interest. While he certainly is a good man, I didn't want a forced and unhappy marriage for you. But now that I've seen you together, it's obvious that he really cares for you and doesn't feel like you're just an obligation to him. And that you also like him?" she asked, even though she was rather sure that I had strong feelings for Tom.

"I do, very much," I confessed to her. "But I still love your treacle tart more," I added jokingly.

"Is this a hint that I should bake you one?"

"Yes," I answered with a big smile on my face which earned me a ruffle of my hair and, two hours later, Mum's homemade treacle tart I loved.

Considering how I behaved during the birth of the snakes and during the two weeks I spent with Tom before, it was no wonder that Tom still saw me as a child. But then, I was barely fourteen years old at that time, so I was still allowed to behave like a child.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 9th July 1995**

After the complete failure to seduce Tom during the school year, I tried a new tactic during the summer holidays. Instead of first spending some days with my family, I went from the Hogwarts Express straight to Slytherin Manor.

My plan? Make Tom jealous enough that he will have no choice but to claim me as his own. My inspiration? My dear friend Draco. Draco and I would be spending two weeks in southern France at the end of July. As Draco told me what we would be doing on the sunny beach, one thing in particular caught my interest. The good old fashioned game of 'Spin the Bottle'.

So, during our Sunday afternoon tea time, I began to tell Tom about my upcoming trip, trying to subtly make Tom jealous.

"I can't wait for to go to France," I began, not having to fake my excitement. "It will be so much fun to get to know new people, to go swimming, to play volleyball and to spend the nights around a warm fire; joking, talking, playing games," I listed, gesturing widely with my hands.

"Sounds fun," Tom said, smiling into his teacup.

"It will be," I answered. "And to think that Draco thought that I couldn't have as much fun as him," I said, hoping that Tom would ask me to elaborate, which luckily he did.

"He was teasing me that I wouldn't be able to play games like 'Truth or Dare' or 'Spin the Bottle' because people would be too afraid to ask the usual dares of Lord Slytherin's fiancé," I began to explain. "But then I reminded Draco that we would be playing with foreign Muggle teens, so they don't even know that we're engaged and thus wouldn't be afraid to demand things of me.

"And when he pointed out that Nagijan would surely stop anyone but _you_ from kissing me, I pointed out that Nagijan would be staying with you because he would scare the Muggles. So hopefully, with these little hurdles out of the way, Draco and I will finally get our first real kiss during one of the games," I told Tom with a happy grin on my face.

"Don't think that I don't know what you're trying to do," Tom told me straight out.

"And is it working?" I asked cheekily, smiling brightly at Tom before taking a sip of my tea.

"What do you think?" he answered my question with a question of his own, his eyebrow raised.

"That I will get my first real kiss before I turn fifteen," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

"And who will give it to you?" Tom asked, amused. By now we were both enjoying talking around the crux of the matter. Namely, me wanting Tom to kiss me.

"I don't know. Maybe a cute French boy?" I asked cheekily, taking another sip of my tea for effect.

"Not a beautiful French girl?" Tom asked.

"No, they have cooties," I said in my best 'I'm five years old'-voice, barely able to contain my laughter. Even Tom was having a hard time suppressing a chuckle.

"And if no French boy wants to kiss you?" Tom asked, curiously.

"Then there's still Draco," I said with a shrug of my shoulders, unknowingly mentioning the one person which could light the flame of Tom's jealously in seconds, making him disregard any hesitations he may had.

"Let's ensure that it won't come to that," Tom said, placing his cup of tea on the coffee table and turning his body even more in my direction.

After I too, placed my cup down, Tom took my chin in his hand and leaned in to give me a soft, chaste and far too short kiss on my lips. Apparently even the mentioning of Draco wasn't able to bring all of Tom's walls down.

"Satisfied?"

"No," I said with a shake of my head in the negative. "A kiss is only a 'real kiss' if it involves tongues," I said boldly, encouraged by finally having gotten at least a small kiss out of Tom. If Tom and I hadn't spent so much time together during the previous school year, I would never had gotten the bravery to say this.

All around me people treated Tom with the respect and social distance his status as Lord Slytherin demanded. But during our little chats I was able to get even more comfortable and relaxed, noticing that Tom too was opening up to me. I could speak frankly with him, even call him a bastard without having to fear that it would have negative consequences for me or my family because Tom tolerated—maybe even welcomed—this easy going, open behaviour between us—as long as we were in private.

"And who has told you that a kiss must include tongues?" Tom asked me, bringing me back from my thoughts. "Draco?" Tom asked.

"No, that's general knowledge. I'm sure even Nagijan knows it."

"He and Nagini know nothing else, _but_ kissing with their tongues," Tom commented. Both of us have watched the two snakes making out often enough to be very aware of this fact. Especially since their two offspring were out of their child phase.

"See, you finally admit it too. A 'real kiss' includes tongues," I said triumphant.

Silence.

"Come on, Tom. Don't be afraid and finally give me a real kiss," I demanded.

Tom just sighed. I didn't know whether this was a sigh of annoyance or of resignation. So imagine my relief when instead of telling me to stop whining and to leave him alone, Tom gave in to my demand. He waved his hand at the study door to lock it and then he finally leaned in once more to give me a real kiss.

I can hardly describe how good it felt to feel Tom's lips on mine again. As he pressed his lips against mine far more firmly than during the short peck he gave me before, I felt my cheeks reddening. And after a short moment of just enjoying being kissed by Tom, I opened my lips slightly in invitation. And while I waited to feel his tongue against mine, I tried to copy Tom's motions the best I could for someone as inexperienced as me.

After an eternity, Tom's wet and warm tongue finally came out and touched my lips, making me open my mouth wider. It felt like a thousand butterflies were trying to escape from the confined space of my stomach when our tongues met for the first time. Moaning in pleasure, my right hand gripped Tom's shoulder as I moved even closer towards my fiancé. But all too soon, I felt how the pressure of Tom's lips lessened and how his tongue retreated to his own mouth, gently ending our kiss.

"Satisfied?" Tom asked me once more.

I was still too overwhelmed by the thrilling sensations of the kiss that I couldn't answer.

"I'll take it as a 'Yes' then," he said, a smirk firmly in place.

Shaking my head to dissolve the daze I was under, I tried to get my bearings back. But before I could say anything like "I still want more", Tom had already unlocked the door—a sure sign that he wouldn't kiss me again. At least today. But with at least once having broken through his walls, I was confident that I could get him to kiss me again in the near future.

"Why don't you get ready for dinner?" Tom suggested as he was already on his way out, giving my lap area a pointed glance when I was about to say that I wanted to spend some more time with him.

Looking down, I only then realised that my jeans were spotting an obvious bulge. Turning a deep shade of red, I stuttered out a "Ehm...ye—ah," not daring to look up.

 _Shit, I didn't see if he was turned on too,_ I thought when I'd calmed down again. But by that time, Tom had already left his study. _Not that his robes wouldn't have concealed it anyway,_ I thought in resignation and went up to my room to get ready for dinner and maybe have a wank over the memory of the kiss.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 29th June 1996, On the Hogwarts Express**

Since starting the summer holidays by staying two weeks with Tom had turned out rather well last year, I decided to do the same this year. My parents agreed in seconds, Tom though was more hesitant to give his okay. In the second week of July he'd been invited to the wedding of the Indian Minister of Magic's son and he'd already accepted the invitation weeks ago. Luckily, I was able to argue my point, telling him that it would make a good impression if he was accompanied by his fiancé. Besides, our snakes were sure to love the warm Indian weather and would love the distraction from having been recently separated from their offspring.

And while Tom agreed with both above mentioned points, he certainly wasn't unaware of my ulterior motives. The first one being to get a luxury trip to India. And the second, more important hidden agenda, to spend two, unsupervised weeks all alone with Tom; the wedding being the only interruption of our togetherness. Of course, Tom could have booked separate rooms for us, but the possessive, overprotective fiancé he is, instead got us an apartment with two bedrooms and only one bathroom.

On the Hogwarts Express I actually wondered if Tom would have only booked one bedroom if sharing a bed with your fiancé would have been socially acceptable for a man of his status. _However, two beds do_ _es_ _n't mean that we can't just share one anyway,_ I thought.

But then, while I'd been able to trick Tom into giving me my first kiss, repeat performances had been few and far between.. _So maybe he will insist on separate beds after all,_ I thought with a sigh, feeling down.

"Why the sad face?" Draco asked me. "I thought you were happy to get some un-chaperoned alone time with your fiancé."

"I am. It's just that I fear that he doesn't see it as such," I told him.

"Oh, come on, Harry. Nagijan wouldn't have reported to you that he smelled Lord Slytherin being aroused if he hadn't been turned on by looking at your 'holiday' pictures from France," Draco argued.

It had been my blond best friend, who'd insisted that we take some photos of me glad only in my tight swimming trunks, dry and wet, and mix them in with the usual, less porn-like pictures and give the whole stack to Tom in the hopes of getting a positive reaction out of my fiancé. Draco also wanted to take some pictures of the teens I kissed during our games of 'Spin the Bottle' to make Tom jealous again. But I told him that it would be just too much. The boys and girls I kissed had no meaning to me other than that they helped me practise my kissing skills. So I saw no reason to keep their images. They'd already served their purpose long before I met them by making Tom jealous enough to give me my first kiss.

"I'm sure he wouldn't throw you out if you laid out naked on his bed," Draco suggested, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"No, he would just walk out and sleep in the other room," I answered. _And say that I should get dressed before I caught a cold_ , I mentally added, remembering the incident two years ago when I'd walked into the room clad only in a towel and Tom told me just that.

"I wouldn't be so sure about it," Draco answered, needing to have the last word.

Nothing more of important was discussed in the compartment Draco and I shared before we reached King Cross Station shortly before 5pm, where our parents were already waiting for us.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 30th June 1996, Dehradun, India**

Due to the five and a half hour time difference it was already shortly past midnight on Sunday when Tom and I arrived via Portkey at our hotel in Dehradun in northern India. Luckily, Tom's arms around my hips prevented me from landing face-first on the marble , we had to listen to Nagini and Nagijan complain in our ears about how much they hated International Portkeys.

While I'd already took a two hour long nap during the train ride to London, and it was only 7pm back home, I was utterly exhausted and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in my temporary bed.

 _N_ _ext time, I'll just ask my mum to pack my suitcase for me instead of_ _rushing to do_ _it myself in under two hours,_ I thought as I lay on the soft bed five minutes after our arrival.

Last year, I'd just taken my Hogwarts trunk with me to Slytherin Manor. But as the climate in India was very different from the Scottish weather, I went from Kings Cross to my home, picked out clothes for a significantly warmer climate than Britain, repacked my toothpaste and similar items from my school trunk to my suitcase, ate some dinner and Flooed over to Tom in time to not miss the Portkey set for 7pm.

"You better get some sleep, Harry," Tom told me as he entered my room. "We'll be meeting the Indian Minister at ten tomorrow, so breakfast will be served at eight thirty."

"Hmm, okay," I answered sleepily, making Tom walk towards where I lay on the bed to shake my shoulder and then shove me into the bathroom.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Wake up, sleepy-head," I heard Tom's voice say to me, giving my shoulder a slight shake.

"I don't wanna," I mumbled.

"Should I douse you with water?" my fiancé threatened.

"No," I answered, turning around to face Tom, but still keeping my eyes closed. "But you can give me a kiss..."

"A real kiss," I complained when he only kissed the top of my head.

"You're insufferable, you know?" he asked rhetorically before he finally gave me the wake-up kiss I wanted.

"And you sound too much like Severus," I said when the kiss ended, finally opening my eyes.

"But he doesn't give you good morning kisses, does he?" Tom questioned in good humour, already on his way out of my bedroom, leaving me with no other option but to get up.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Five hours later, Tom and I finally walked out of the restaurant where we met the Indian Minister of Magic and his wife. And even though Tom had cast a complex and not well-known translation spell so that I could understand what was being said and even take part in the conversation if I wanted to, I was bored out of my mind. Mainly because Tom and the Minister were talking about nothing but politics and the Minister's wife wasn't inclined at all to converse with me.

The only real form of entertainment I had were the comments Nagijan and Nagini made. But as Tom still insisted that we keep my Parseltongue ability a secret, I was forced to control my reactions, less I start laughing at an inappropriate time. So after lunch was over I instead entertained myself by watching Tom and I had to admit that Tom in business mode was hot. He was all dominant and no nonsense.

"So," Tom began as we walked in the general direction of our hotel. "What do you want to do? We could either go sightseeing or use the remainder of the day to get the rest of the inconvenient businesses out of the way so that we can enjoy the rest of our stay."

"I have the feeling that you would prefer the later," I answered.

"Hmm," Tom verified my assumption. "But I'm still asking what you want to do."

"Let's get the boring stuff done," I said. The day was ruined anyway, so why ruin tomorrow too if it could be avoided. "What is it that we have to do anyway?" I asked.

"Clothes shopping." I just groaned. "Don't worry," Tom said with a laugh. "We just have to buy you some nice clothes for the wedding, nothing more," he pacified.

"Are the shops even open? It's Sunday after all," I pointed out as we entered our hotel.

"In this district the shops are open 24/7," Tom said, giving me a look that screamed 'Didn't you noticed on our way back here?'

"Sorry," I said, sheepishly. "I was too busy watching how well the Muggle and magical world are integrated here."

After getting dressed in more casual clothes, Tom renewed the cooling charms on both of us and we headed back out towards the clothing shop Tom wanted to visit, letting our snakes stay at the hotel as they wanted to spend some undisturbed alone time together.

"No Potter-red," I demanded, hating how bad the colour suited me.

"Since you are not the bride, you're not going to wear anything red, pink or orange. Maybe a nice blue?" Tom asked.

"Can't I wear Slytherin-green?" I asked, nearly missing the smile which hushed over Tom's face when he heard my suggestion.

"Since we're not married yet, no."

"But I wear it all the time at Hogwarts," I argued.

"That's different. You wear it with all of your other housemates in reference to Salzar, not me."

"How about Malfoy green then?" I asked.

"Certainly not," Tom said in a stern voice.

"But I want us to have matching clothes," I pouted as I followed Tom into the small but elegant shop which was full of cloth of every kind. "And you'll be wearing your family colours. So if I can't wear Slytherin-green, Malfoy-green is as close as I can get."

Tom sighed.

"How may I help you today, Lord Slytherin?" the middle-aged shopkeeper asked, surprising me that he knew Tom by name.

"My fiancé needs an outfit for the Minister's son's wedding," Tom said, making the shopkeeper turn his attention to me.

"Any preferences?" he asked me.

"Something to match my fiancé's attire," I demanded.

"But not green," Tom added authoritative.

"Hmm," the man said, thinking. "Not even some small green accents?" he asked Tom.

"No, that would be acceptable."

"How about a nice beige silk, cut similar to your own outfit with green embroidery?" he suggested, moving around to get the silk he was speaking of.

"It's better than nothing..." I muttered under my breath, taking what I would get.

"Come here, Harry," Tom called me over to him and the shopkeeper.

"The light colour will go nicely with your tanned skin," Tom said, holding the cloth against my bare arm.

As the shopkeeper excused himself to get a collection of green yarns for the embroidery, Tom whispered into my ear, "The light colour with the green accents will suit you. Besides, this way you'll look more like my fiancé than someone who wants to copy me."

"Really?" I asked. I hadn't thought about it this way.

"Yes. Just wait and see when we're wearing them," he said as the shopkeeper returned to us.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 10th July 1996, Dehradun, India**

Ten days later I had to agree that Tom was right. Just to prove his point, he had me dress in one of his spare Indian style, Slytherin-green outfits and stand beside him in front of the mirror in my room. Because of our similar hair colour, it really looked a bit like I was trying and failing to pose as a 'Mini-Tom', the effect made worse by Tom's clothes being too large for me.

When I finally stood next to him in my beige outfit, the effect was the complete opposite. While it was clear by the identical cut that Tom and I belonged together, I was my own person who complimented Tom.

"See, I was right," he said, giving me a short kiss; to my delight on my lips instead of my hair like he usually liked to do. The days we spent as two friends exploring the city and the surrounding area had lowered his usual walls enough to be more intimate with me than back home, where everyone knew who we were and watched us with critical eyes.

"Now, let's get your hair done," he said, walking towards my bedside table to pick up my hairbrush.

Settling down on the bed, Tom opened my messed up braid and then brushed out my hair, which was reaching my armpits now.

"I didn't know you knew how to do a French braid," I commented.

"I'm a man of many talents," was Tom's answer, making me wonder if there was intended innuendo present.

"Isn't the embroidery a bit over the top?" I asked, to divert my attention. It wouldn't do me any good to over-think Tom's last comment.

"For British standards, yes. But for Indian conditions there's still room to improve. I assume that the groom will wear something where the chest area and the back is also embroidered," Tom explained. "Besides, here it's customary to spend a rather large fortune on ones wedding. So if the groom can't even afford more detailed clothes than us, then he should have waited some more years. Though, politically, it would be to my advantage if the groom's clothes are less outstanding than ours," Tom said as he finished the braid.

"Is that why you chose an unusual cut?" I asked. During the last few days I'd noticed that the button-facings on the men's shirts on the streets went down in a straight line, while ours were curved to the left.

"It's one reason. I mainly chose it for the better freedom of movement it gives. With this cut, sitting cross-legged is more comfy. Which reminds me, if you still want to walk to the wedding location, we need to leave in the next ten minutes."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

I had to admit that the wedding celebration was very interesting. I especially loved how the couple had to walk around the bonfire seven times for the wedding to be valid. The best part about it was that leading each lap around the fire symbolised that that person would be in charge for that year of their marriage. The bride led the first three rounds and the groom the remaining four laps.

And while the difference in years showed that in the end it was the groom who was in charge of the marriage, the women here in India were still better treated than back home in the UK. Opposed to me, they weren't marked as their fathers' and later their husbands' property and seen as nothing more than broodmares and submissive housewives.

 _At least Tom doesn't treat me_ _any different because I'm a Foreas, even though he still sees me like a child more often than I'd like,_ I thought, glancing at Tom who was sitting beside me, his attention on the couple walking around the bonfire for the last time.

Two hours and five speeches later, the bride's family was lamenting the loss of their daughter as it was tradition while Tom and I stood together in the long line of well-wishers waiting for our turn to present the newly-weds with our wedding presents; mainly gold jewellery for the bride.

The following dinner was delicious, if slightly too spicy for my personal taste. Opposed to the boring lunch I had to sit through on my first day here, my table neighbours were happy to talk with me or to watch the evening entertainment with me, making small comments about it every now and then. And since the only two politically important persons who were seated at our table were more or less Tom's friends, Tom didn't have a problem to give me the majority of his attention without having to fear negative consequences.

In short, I really enjoyed attending the wedding with Tom―at least until three o'clock. Then all the remaining guests, which were basically everyone who didn't come to the wedding with small children in tow, were asked to go outside for a firework show. And as we all enjoyed the last sparks of the fireworks, the female members of the groom's family suddenly started to throw colour powder at us unsuspecting guests, covering our robes in pink, red, yellow, blue and green stains.

"Thank Merlin that we left our snakes at the hotel," I said to Tom as I unsuccessfully tried to clean my glasses.

"Knowing them, they wouldn't have dared to throw anything at us if we had our snakes coiled around us," Tom answered, cleaning up my glasses with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Shall we dance?" Tom asked as the band started to play the first of many songs to come.

"Only because it's you who's asking," I said, still not liking dancing. But with such a graceful partner like Tom, following him around the dance floor was easy and I could easily enjoy myself, dancing for hours.

It was 5am when Tom and I finally decided to call it a night. Tom had wanted to Apparate us, but as the sun was just starting to rise, I wanted to enjoy the colourful sky and walk the twenty minutes back to our hotel. Eight minutes into our walk, the sky was starting to darken. And not three minutes later, it was raining cats and dogs.

"And that's why the Indian wedding season is in winter and not in the middle of the monsoon season," Tom said as we started to run the rest of the way; the Muggles on the streets preventing us from just Apparating back to the hotel.

Six minutes later we were both totally drenched, standing in the lift, ascending to our apartment.

"I really need a shower. All the colour powder has run down my body, beneath my shirt and who knows where else," I commented as the lift's doors opened.

"You're not the only one," Tom answered, opening our door. "You can go first," he added as he closed the door behind him.

"Or we can just shower together," I suggested, hopping that Tom having been more intimate with me than usual in public today was a sign that he would also be more touchy than usual in private. Just as Tom was about to reject my suggestion, I quickly added, "It's not like we'll see something we haven't seen before."

This was more or less true. Tom had seen me in nothing but my underwear when I was changing into my wedding attire this morning. And in the last days, I had more than once seen a topless Tom coming out of the bathroom in the morning. However, I had to admit that I was still more than curious to see what he looked like in his birthday suit. _If his chest_ _i_ _s anything to go by, it_ _sh_ _ould be a very arousing sight._

"Besides, I really could use someone who gets the colour powder off of my back," I said as I made my way towards the bathroom, trying to throw the come-hither look over my shoulder.

I took Tom following me into the bathroom as his silent agreement to the suggestion. But only when I started to take off my sullen clothes, mourning that they most likely were ruined for good, did I realise that it wouldn't be easy to stay unaffected by Tom's closeness and especially nakedness. I didn't even know if Tom would appreciate my arousal over him. _Just keep you gaze above his waistline,_ I instructed myself.

Tom, the sly man he is, bid his time by adjusting the shower temperature. Only when I only had my boxers left, did Tom start to take off his own clothes, deliberately turning his back to me. I didn't know if he did it because my cheeks were already red of embarrassment as I started to feel self-conscious with only my boxers left, or if he did it to protect his own modesty as long as possible, or if he was having second thoughts.

Copying Tom, I turned to face the big shower, un-braided my hair to win time before I pulled off my last article of clothing and stepped under the spray of warm water, my back still facing Tom.

"Let me," Tom said just as I picked up the bottle of shampoo to clean my hair.

"Okay," I said, not daring to turn around to face him. _Tom_ _―_ _naked_ _―_ _is standing right behind me,_ was all I could think about as he took the shampoo bottle out of my hand.

As Tom massaged the shampoo into my long hair, I started to relax, which in turn made me realize how tired I actually was. "Here you go," Tom announced before I could fall asleep in the shower.

"Thank you," I said, turning around for the first time and coming face to face with his breastbones. _Don't look!_ I reminded myself. But as feared, my eyes had a mind of their own and moved lower, taking in Tom's fit but not too muscular chest, and then they followed the dark trail of pubic hair down to his cock, where they were glued for what felt like hours but must have only been five seconds in reality.

I won't deny that I more than once have imagined what Tom's penis would look like. But since all I had to compare it to was my own cock and the quick looks I got at the other boys' in the showers after Quidditch practice, my images were restricted to still not fully grown penises. So while the length was around what I'd seen before, even if it was towards the longer side, none of the boys' cocks were as thick as Tom's. And his wasn't even fully aroused yet so it would still grow even bigger. _And this will fit into me?_ I wondered.

Before I could think more about it, the cock I was staring at twitched, making my eyes look up towards Tom's face. "You know that you look ridiculous with the pink and orange hair?" I asked the first thing I could think of to cover up my previous, unabashed staring.

"That's why we're taking a shower," Tom said as he put some shampoo into his hair. His tone sounded slightly forced in my ears, as if he had to concentrate on not letting his voice reveal how aroused he felt. But maybe this was just wishful thinking on my part.

"Let me wash your back for you," I asked, wanting to finally be able to touch my fiancé, which was another reason why I offered to shower together.

Tom hesitated in washing his hair. "Please?" I more begged than asked.

"Okay," Tom gave his agreement followed by a sigh and then closed his eyes as he returned to massage the shampoo into his hair, like he just agreed to a great burden.

Picking up the flannel and the shower gel, I moved around Tom to reach his back and then began my self-proclaimed task. I moved the flannel in slow circles from his shoulders down his back, stopping above his pelvis. "I didn't know that you had freckles," I commented, using it as an excuse to touch his bare back with my fingers as I traced the line of small freckles and moles on his lower back.

"Harry," Tom said in a warning and slightly breathless tone.

"Yes?" I asked as Tom washed off the remainder of the shampoo from his hands.

"Don't start things we cannot finish," he said, turning around to face me.

"Who says that we cannot finish this?" I asked, caressing the area around his hipbones with the same soap covered fingers that had caressed his back. It took all of my courage to be this bold but I was sure that the end result would be worth it.

"My morals," Tom whispered in resignation, leaning forward to give me a kiss on my forehead, caressing my left cheek with his right hand.

"But you don't have a problem with kissing me," I stated, though it came out more like a whine.

"It's complicated," he said after a short pause, leaning his head back against the tiled shower wall. "I promised myself that I wouldn't do anything with you until you're of age. But it's hard to not give in to your wishes," he admitted. "So I tried to find a middle ground I could live with."

"So let's find a new middle ground together," I suggested, taking a step forward to give Tom a kiss.

"Harry," he said, softly putting his hands on my shoulders to keep me at a distance before I could get near his lips.

"I'll be sixteen in three weeks," I stated. "Isn't this old enough to at least do _something_?" I pleaded, placing my hands on his chest. "It's not like I'm saying that we should go all the way. Besides, what difference does a year make?" I asked. Tom's admittance that it was hard for him to not give in to me gave me the strength to press on. "Let's just let ourselves go and enjoy the moment. If it becomes too much for either of us, we stop. Okay?" I asked.

"You're not making it easy for me, are you?" Tom asked rhetorically.

"No," I said cheekily.

"Let's wash our hair out first," he said.

"I won't let you distract me," I told him decisively.

"And I don't want to have to stop because of soap that ran into my eyes," Tom answered, taking my confidence down a notch.

 _S_ _o much about coming across as an adult who knows what he's doing,_ I thought disappointedly, complying with Tom's demand since he did have a point. I even washed my body so that Tom couldn't use any remaining colour powder on my skin as another excuse to stop.

"You still have a green spot on your lower back," Tom said as he finished cleaning off.

"Here?" I asked, trying to get a look at my back.

"No, I bit lower."

"There?"

"Here, I'll wash it for you," Tom said, holding out his hand for the flannel.

 _D_ _id he rethink his earlier words?_ I wondered as I felt the flannel being placed so close to the crack between my ass cheeks that it could hardly be referred to as the lower back. _Finger me please,_ I pleaded in the privacy of my mind. To my disappointment Tom's fingers touched my shoulder as his other hand placed the flannel into my still open palm.

"There you go. Now rinse out your hair," he commanded and I complied, wanting to start exploring his body as soon as possible. But with as long as my hair was, rinsing it took me a good two minutes. Two minutes, in which I had my eyes closed in protection from the shampoo. Two minutes, which Tom used to, unnoticed by me, sneak out of the bathroom.

"Tom!" I yelled angrily when I didn't see him anywhere. I had been so eager that the only thing I could feel now was fury.

"Sweet dreams, Harry," he called back, presumably from his bedroom.

"You promised," I accused, placing a towel around my waist and marching towards his bedroom.

"No, I didn't. But we can talk about finding a new middle ground once we both have gotten some sleep. If you want," he said in a calm voice, which irritated me even more.

I tried to open his door, but as expected it was locked. "You bastard," I screamed at the door, giving it a kick for good measure. But not a moment later I regretted what I did. Behaving like a five year old Draco on a temper tantrum wouldn't get me where I wanted to be.

Taking a couple of calming breaths, I let my back rest against the closed door and I said in a calmer voice than before, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like this. I was just... just so disappointed when you left me standing there," I admitted. "I know that I said that we would stop if it became too much for either of us. And obviously doing anything more than kissing is too much for you. I respect that," I said the last part with a heavy heart and then moved away from the door to go to my room, hoping that Tom would forgive me for my previous outburst.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Good morning, sleepy-head," I heard Tom's voice greet me before I felt his soft lips against my own.

"Morning," I mumbled, before the event from the early hours of this morning came back to me. "I'm sorry," I immediately said.

"It's okay, Harry. You were exhausted from staying up so long, so you weren't really yourself," Tom said in a gentle voice, caressing my hair.

"But," I began, but Tom placed a finger over my lips.

"Sshh. It's alright, Harry. I shouldn't have agreed to the shower in the first place. Besides every teenager is allowed to have an outburst or two," he said.

"No," I disputed, placing a hand on Tom's leg to stop him from interrupting me again. "If I'd behaved more like the adult I want to be, I wouldn't have tried to pressure you to do anything with me. So, if the offer still stands, can we talk about finding a middle ground?" I asked, gingerly.

Tom laughed. "Of course it still stands. Let's enjoy lunch in bed first and then we can talk about it."

"Lunch?" I asked, bewildered, completely missing the self-satisfied look in Tom's eyes when he talked about the offer.

"It' nearly 12pm," he said. "Now move over so that I have some room too." It was only then that I noticed that Tom too was still in his pyjamas.

After a silent lunch consisting of juice, some fruits and sandwiches, we carefully began to talk about our physical relationship. Somehow, having been naked in the shower, trying to seduce Tom had been far easier and less embarrassing than talking about what we both wanted or were ready to give was.

In the end, Tom had been the one we gave in more than me. But then, I was the one who wanted to exchange handjobs while kissing had already been an admission on his part. However, I couldn't say that I was unhappy with the outcome of our negotiation. I got him to agree that we would kiss more often in exchange of keeping any exploring of naked skin above the waistline as well as keeping our hands away from each other's groin area―clothed or not.

"Let's test out this new middle ground," I said, turning my upper body around so that I was facing Tom directly and gave him a kiss.

"You're insatiable," Tom said when the kiss ended.

"And you made a promise," I countered, glad that I'd insisted on the pinky-swear for old time's sake.

"I did, didn't I?" he said as he leaned in, dominating the kiss, making me lie back on the bed with him on top of me, his weight resting on his forearms.

As we kissed, my hands moved to his hair and then wandered down his back to his pyjama-clad ass as Tom's lips wandered to my neck.

"No touching under the waistline," he reprimanded me.

"No, we agreed to no naked skin to skin contact below the waistline," I said. "Since your ass is still clothed, I can touch it all I want," I stated, squeezing the firm globes in emphasis.

"You little Slytherin."

"The Hat didn't place me there just because I was your fiancé," I said, grabbing his hair with my free hand to place his lips back to mine.

It wasn't long after that that I felt myself getting hard. After a few more minutes of heated kissing and letting my hands freely roam over the skin of his upper body and his clothed ass, I was close to orgasm.

"Please," I said, needing to feel some friction. "Please, Tom," I pleaded once more, using my hands to press his body down to mine.

"Ughn," I groaned when I finally felt his body on mine, getting the friction I desired.

Moments later, I came. "Uhh...That was...great," I said, still not fully down from my high.

"Good," Tom said with a quick kiss to my lips and then got up from my bed.

"But you haven't come yet," I said, pointedly looking with a red face at the bulge in his pyjamas.

"I'm not at an age anymore where frottage is enough for me," he stated from the doorway. "Why don't you take a shower so that we can get ready for our meeting with the priest?" he suggested, not waiting for an answer.

On my way to the bathroom, I had to walk by Tom's bedroom door and as my blood hadn't fully found its way back to my brain, I suddenly got the brilliant idea to eavesdrop on Tom in the hopes of hearing him wank. But alas, Tom must have cast a silencing charm on the room since I didn't hear any sounds at all.

It was only when I was finally under the cold spray of the shower that I realised how stupid the idea of eavesdropping had been. _What would I have told Tom if he had opened the door in that exact moment and found me with my ear pressed against his door?_ I thought. _Shit, he could have even taken back our new agreemen_ _t,_ I belatedly realised. _Thank Merlin that I didn't get caught._

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

The priest Tom and I met that afternoon, was someone we'd talked to during the wedding. When he'd heard that we both possessed a snake and that Tom was a Parselmouth on top of it, he'd invited us to visit the temple where he worked. Apparently in India there was a yearly festival called Nag Panchami in honour of snakes and he oversaw the local celebration. I'd been more than curious to learn more about it.

Ninety minutes of walking around the temple and its surrounding garden, hearing stories about the festival, I asked Tom, "Can we come back here for the festival?"

"I won't be able to see it this year," he said. "But if you want to, we can both come next year."

"Really?"

"Yes. It can be your birthday present."

"Thank you," I said, hugging Tom and once we were back in our apartment, I added some thank you kisses, making good use of my newly gained liberty to kiss Tom in private as much as I wanted.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 13th July 1997, Potter house**

So, the following summer holidays Tom and I once again planned to take a trip to India to see a Nag Panchami celebration in person. I wasn't only excited to see the festival, but also eager to once again spend some unsupervised alone time with Tom. Especially since I would be seventeen and therefore of age, so there would be nothing to stop Tom and I from taking our relationship to the next level.

However, this year it had been my father who was hesitant to let me go to India with Tom. But luckily Sirius had been able to talk him around. Apparently Dad feared that with me already being of age at the time of the trip, Tom and I would do things he wouldn't approve of.

"If you don't allow him to go with our Lord, he'll just go flying after Tom to India by himself," Sirius said.

"I would still have to approve of that," Dad countered.

"No. Harry will be of age and therefore free to do as he pleases. Unless, of course, you want to make use of the old laws where Harry is your property until he marries and becomes his husband's property." That definitely shut him up.

"Good, with that out of the way, let's check out the two water parks I'm considering for Harry's birthday party," Sirius said eagerly, making me hurry out into the garden before I got caught eavesdropping. Knowing Sirius, he'd be angrier about the surprise of the location being ruined than about anything else.

Out in the garden I found my mother reading one of her romance novels under her favourite tree.

"Hey Mum, do you know who Sirius invited for my birthday party?" I asked her.

My godfather had not only taken charge of choosing the location but also everything in regards to my birthday party. And somehow I doubted that he invited Tom if he planned to rent a water park. Lord Slytherin in swimming trunks. That is certainly something only I would dare to ask of him.

"Our family, the Malfoys and Lestranges, the Longbottoms, the Weasley twins and your Quidditch team," she answered my question.

"What about Tom? And Hermione and Luna?" I asked.

"As far as I know, Sirius invited none of them."

"But you can still invite them," I said.

"I'm not sure if Lord Slytherin would want to come..." she trailed off. "But we can certainly invite Misses Lovegood and Granger."

"I'm sure Tom will say yes if I ask him," I said. "Can I Floo over now to ask in person?" I asked her eagerly.

"He really is important to you, isn't he?" Mum asked with a smile.

"He is. So can I go?"

"As long as he gives his okay and you only stay for an hour," she said, then added when she saw my pouty look at the mentioning of the time limit, "You know how strict your father is about this."

"Yeah," I said. "See you in an hour." And I was off, not wanting to waste a second.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Hey Tom," I greeted my fiancé who was also out in the garden, reading a book.

"Hello Harry," he greeted back, marking his place in the book before he placed it on the side-table. "I didn't know that you were coming over today."

"I just got permission from my mother," I explained, not having bothered to ask Tom beforehand if I could come to his house, instead just having Flooed over straight away.

"What's the special occasion?" he asked curiously.

"I overheard Sirius talking about where he wants to hold my birthday party. And when I ask my mum if you were already invited, she told me that you weren't. So I made it my mission to personally invite you to come in all of your half-naked glory."

"Half-naked?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Apparently Sirius wants to rent a water park so you'll have to show up in swimming trunks," I explained, making myself comfortable in Tom's lap.

"And what if only you are allowed to see me in such a state of undress?" Tom asked me playfully, placing his hands on my hips.

"Ah, Tom―the closeted romantic," I crooned in a super-sweet voice and then gave him a quick kiss which turned into a two minute tongue fight.

"But seriously, Harry. Have you thought about the reputation I need to uphold as Lord Slytherin?" he asked.

"You don't need to worry about that with my extended family," I said. He was very close with all of them, especially Severus.

"And what about your friends?" he asked.

Draco and Neville counted as family and I was sure that Hermione and Luna wouldn't say anything and the Weasley twins would joke about it but only in the presence of the people who already knew about it. The remaining members of my Quidditch team were a completely other matter, especially since they were Slytherins; always eager for blackmail material.

"Can't we just cast a Secrecy Spell?" I asked.

"Hmm," Tom said, thinking about my suggestion. "If it is an indoor water park, it would be possible."

"You would have to ask Sirius to choose an indoor park then. But you'll come, yeah?" I asked.

"If the Secrecy Spell can be cast, yes."

"Great," I said with a big smile on my face. "With that solved, let's spend the remainder of my hour in a more pleasant matter."

Tom just chuckled. "Last time I checked, you'd already used up all of your O's." _Ah yes, the annoying credit system of his._

"If I'd known that you would insist that I only get a full make-out session with you in exchange for three Outstandings in my tests, I wouldn't have dropped Divinations."

"It's not my problem that you are not as academically inclined as I was at your age," was Tom's answer.

"We can't all be as ambitious as you, Mr I-got- **thirteen-O's*** in my NEWTs. Besides how do you think I can get grades during the summer holidays?"

"Aren't you a Slytherin who has a godfather for a teacher and another godfather whose husband is one?" he asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. And I'm sure that both of them will be thrilled when I tell them that I need them to test me in order to get my hands all over you. Maybe Severus will even quiz me about which poison he used to kill you," I said cheekily.

"Nah, Severus wouldn't kill me," Tom answered offhandedly. "Make me puke for a week maybe, but never kill."

"Do you want to test it?" I asked playfully, getting up from his lap.

"Maybe next month," Tom said, guiding me back down into his lap. "For now I'll let you cash in your end of year grades instead."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Thursday, 31st July 1997, Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool**

_Seventeen. Finally!_ was my first thought when I woke up on my birthday. And the day got even better, especially the afternoon in Blackpool's Sandcastle Waterpark. I just stepped out of the changing area when I saw the twins ambush Draco.

"So, tell us Draco," Fred began to ask, laying an arm around Draco's shoulder.

"How is it to date your ex's younger sister?" George continued, throwing his arm over Draco's other shoulder.

"Is it weird?"

"Or scary?"

"Or just very thrilling?" the twins offered, when Draco didn't answer right away.

"Or cre-" George began to ask, but Draco decided to interrupt.

"Let's just say that it is much, much easier than dating Pansy's best friend months after you broke up with her."

"Don't tell us that you and Daphne broke up because Pansy got angry with her?" Fred asked.

"Oh, you poor little dragon," George said, ruffling Draco's hair.

"Shut it you guys," Draco said in a raised voice. "I'm with Astoria now and that's it." He shook off their arms and walked over to me.

"You do know that I wondered the same thing?" I asked him.

"And I don't ask you what you do with your fiancé." And with that the matter was dropped and I turned my attention to Draco's parents who just stepped out of the changing rooms.

Over the next half an hour all the remaining quests arrived, though I'm sure that Severus regretted being fashionable late. The reason? Of course none other than one Sirius Black.

As Sirius had already checked out this water park before, he knew perfectly how to prank his least favourite person. So, as soon as Sirius had walked into the water park, he'd made a beeline for the HMS Thundersplash that was conveniently located just opposite the changing area. After casting a little charm that multiplied the fire range of the water canon by a tenfold, he waited for his victim to arrive.

Before Severus could say "Happy Birthday" to me, Sirius drenched him from head to toe in water, only barely avoiding getting me wet too.

"BLACK!" Severus screamed in rage and started to chase after Sirius. I just hoped that neither of them would slip on the wet floor and break their neck.

"Ah, that's why Sirius said that we shouldn't bring the presents inside the water park until later," Tom suddenly spoke up from behind me, spooking me in the process.

"Oh, hello Tom," I greeted my fiancé as I turned around to face him, being sad that I couldn't give him a kiss too.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," he said, giving me a kiss on my cheek that made me smile happily. "I see that nearly no one from your Quidditch team came."

"Yes, the Oenslager siblings are on a family trip and Goyle and Crabbe declined. They said something about not being able to enjoy the water park with two of their professors around, even less with you also being here," I explained. "So only Matthew Greyson came, besides Draco."

"My Lord," my father interrupted. "How nice that you could come."

"Of course, James. I wouldn't want to miss the seventeenth birthday party of my fiancé," Tom answered and allowed himself to be walked over to the 'adult'-section.

Having nothing better to do, I walked over to my Ravenclaw friends, Luna and Hermione. With them being in a different house, I saw them less than most of my other friends but I was always enjoyable to spend some time with them.

As I came closer, I overheard their talk.

"Not that I'm complaining, but one would think that for a coming of age party a less childish location would be chosen," Hermione commented. "But then, Mr Black still behaves himself very much like an eight year old," she added, looking over at the shallow where my godfathers were standing, trying to get each other wet.

"Oh, I think that he chose this location with more than one ulterior motive," Luna answered in her dreamy voice, catching Hermione's and mine attention.

"What do you mean?" Hermione voiced the question we both had.

"Come, he obviously chose it to get Professor Snape wet. And Mr Black has certainly gotten a kick out of forcing both Professor Snape and Lord Slytherin out of their heavy robes," Luna said. "And I think you won't deny that it has it perks. All the guys are only in their swimwear," she added, looking in the direction where Tom and Lucius were talking.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "Who would have thought that Professor Snape not only had a sinful voice but also a sinful body?"

 _I didn't need that image_ , I thought and decided against approaching them right now and instead joined Draco, Matthew and Neville in trying out one of the slides.

It was two hours later, the adults finally having braved the waters an hour ago, when Sirius approached me and made me agree to a dare.

As inconspicuously as I could, I sneaked up on Tom who was currently enjoying the small waterfall of the Typhoon Lagoon. From above him, I sprang down into the water and ducked Tom under water, winning my dare with Sirius.

 _Had he really thought that I would have a problem with this?_ I wondered and then let Tom emerge.

"Oh, you're so going to pay for this," Tom said and ducked me in requital.

It wasn't long before the semi-concealed area we were in made us lose some of our self-control and the fight turned a bit more headed and touchy. During the fight, Tom even asked me if he had gotten the correct part of 'half-naked glory' or if he should have shown up in just a muscle shirt instead. This made me choke on my own saliva and just as I got my breath back, Tom dived me under.

Luckily the touching stayed at the borderline of what very closed friends would do when my father coughed above us to get our attention. Using Tom's temporary distraction, I ducked him under one more time and then climbed out of the Lagoon, running away to safety.

"Harry James Potter," I heard both men yell after me. I just laughed and signed to Sirius that he owned me twenty Galleons.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 6th August 1997, Jodhpur, India**

This year, the Nag Panchami festival was held on the eighth of August, so Tom and I had decided to Portkey to India on the fourth, giving us enough time to rest from my birthday party while at the same time leaving enough days to get used to the different time zone before the festival started.

While last year we had been lucky enough to only catch the start of the monsoon season, this year it was already in full swing when we arrived. Though that didn't stop Tom and I from exploring Jodhpur, the 'Blue City'. When we were both out in the city, we enjoyed ourselves. But as soon as we were alone in our apartment we both became very aware of the sexual tension between us.

We both knew that with me now finally being of age and us currently being far away from my parents and other hindrances, this was the perfect opportunity for us to get even more intimate. The only problem was that neither of us wanted to take the first step. However, after two nights of getting nothing more than a long and heated good-night kiss I started to feel the pressure of how our alone time together was running out. And obviously Tom was still as hesitant to initiate something more as he'd been last year.

So, on the third night when Tom again only kissed me at my bedroom door and then turned to leave for his own room, I called up all the Gryffindor courage my parents had hopefully bestowed upon me and asked, "Won't you spend the night with me?"

"Harry," he said in the same tone of voice that he'd used in the shower nearly a year ago.

"I'm of age now," I stated.

"I know," Tom said, with a smile-smirk.

"So," I said as I took hold of his left hand, "stay the night in my room." And then I softly pulled on his hand as a sign for him to follow me into my room. "Please?" I added, when he didn't move an inch.

"You do know that we can't go all the way?" he asked me in a calm voice, brushing a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.

"I know," I answered calmly. "I don't want to go that far anyway. Even just sleeping in your arms would be enough," I admitted honestly.

"Then we'll do just that," Tom said and finally allowed me to drag him into my bedroom. While we didn't do anything more than we had already done, simple touching and kissing according to the restrictions we agreed on last year, being able to fall asleep in the embrace of Tom's arms was one of the best things I ever felt. It made me feel so cherished and safe and most of all loved. And waking up next to Tom was nice too, especially since instead of cuddling my pillow I could just cuddle up to Tom instead iand fall asleep once again.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Monday, 11th August 1997, Jodhpur, India**

The following nights, we moved the good-night kiss from the bedroom door to my bed, which certainly had its advantages, especially the prolonged time of the kissing session and the good-morning kisses I now also got to enjoy. However, as nice as this all was, I still desired more. And as Tom apparently wanted me to set the pace, I spent the bus ride to and from Mandore coming up with good reasons for us to get more intimate.

To my personal dismay, the argument which I thought would work best was 'I don't want to be a totally innocent, blushing virgin on our wedding night, being a virgin will be bad enough'. Besides making it clear that I hadn't forgotten that I wouldn't be able to have 'real' sex with him, it would also hopefully incite enough guilt in Tom to submit to my demand.

So, as we once again were making out in my bed that night, I tried to start the conversation with letting my hand purposefully wander under Tom's pyjama pants, both of us having forgone our pyjama tops after the first night.

"Harry," Tom said in a warning tone, stopping our current kiss.

"Please, Tom. Me being a virgin on our wedding night will be bad enough on its own. I don't want to be a totally innocent, nervous, and blushing virgin on top of it," I told him, but still pulled my hand away from his pyjama's waistband.

After hearing me out, Tom rolled off of me and lay on his back next to me. Closing his eyes, he seemed to at least consider my words.

"I can understand why you feel that way," he suddenly spoke up after a minute of silence.

 _But..._ I thought, waiting for the rest of the sentence.

"And the best solution to overcome your nervousness which I can offer you right now is to show you how I would start our wedding night," Tom said, only at the end turning to face me. "But..."

 _Ah, here it comes_ , I thought, anxiously waiting for his next words.

"...I want you to carefully think about what you are asking for. Whatever we may do here, you won't get a repeat performance back home. And what one doesn't know, one can't crave," Tom said, once again looking at the ceiling.

Tom had taken the time to think over what I'd said, so I showed him the same courtesy and let his words sink in, mulling their implications over in my mind.

As soon as we were back in Britain, due to Tom's position as Lord Slytherin, we wouldn't be able to do anything more daring than the kissing sessions we shared in the last year, less we were caught. _Would I be able to withstand another year of just kissing when I knew what being more intimate with Tom felt like?_ I didn't know. However, what I did know was that if I didn't grab this opportunity right now, I would spend the next year berating myself for having given up this one time chance.

"One can only appreciate the things one has lost," I said in answer.

"Is this your final decision?" he asked, changing his position so that he was now laying on his left side, facing me.

"Yes," I said, convinced.

"Stop means stop. For both of us," Tom said before he once again lay atop of me and kissed me with everything he had.

As we were both soon overcome by lust, Tom began to whisper into my ear, _"_ On our wedding night, I'll first kiss a line down your neck, as I slowly take off your shirt."

And he did just that, letting his hand trail down my chest in replacement of unbuttoning my shirt. "Then, I'll play with your nipples as you fumble with the buttons of my shirt," he said in a husky voice, turning me on even more. It didn't even bother me that he describe my actions as fumbling.

"And when my shirt has finally joined yours on the ground, I'll take off both of our pants before I'll let my hands wander down your happy trail," he whispered into my ear as his hands did as he described. "And take off your boxers, fully exposing you to me," he said, pulling down my pyjama pants.

I was embarrassed to see that there was already pre-cum on my hard cock. But Merlin, did Tom's talking turn me on.

"And finally I would prepare you, before I entering you," Tom said, his voice having gone even huskier at the sight of my naked body.

I could hardly stop myself from saying, "Please do."

"But since this isn't our wedding night, you'll have to be content with this," Tom said, giving me a kiss just as I felt a lubricated hand touching my cock, giving me a fantastic handjob.

Shortly after, I started to moan into our joined mouths, and a while later I felt a pillow being pushed under my lower back, raising my hips. And then a lubricated finger was circling my entrance, smearing lube around my hole as Tom's other hand still stroked my penis.

"Please," I begged and Tom gingerly slipped his finger into me.

I squirmed and moaned as Tom's skilful hand gave me a handjob while now of his fingers were exploring my opening, spreading me and caressing my prostate and all the while Tom kissed my lips, my neck and my collarbone.

When one of Tom's fingers inside me moved past my prostate and explored my Foreas' opening, I was so overcome by sensations that I came with a shudder, sputtering my semen all over my abdomen and Tom's hand. I didn't even notice how Tom licked at his fingers to get a taste of my sperm.

"That was great. Thank you, Tom," I said when I'd finally caught my breath and opened my eyes again.

"There's no reason to thank me," Tom said and kissed me and then called a wet flannel from the bathroom to clean us up.

"We're not finished yet," I said as Tom disposed the flannel on my bedside table.

"Aren't we?" he asked me playfully.

"No. I still have to take care of your not so little problem," I said as I pressed with my hands against his naked chest, making him lie down on his back.

Trying to copy Tom's earlier actions, I began to kiss my way down his body, taking great pleasure in how reactive his nipples were to my ministrations. When I finally had gotten to the point where I took his pyjama pants off, I couldn't help myself and once again stared at his manhood, which due to his arousal was even larger than I remembered.

"Beautiful," I said, as I leaned down to kiss the tip. While I'd originally planned to pay Tom back with a handjob, it felt too weird to ask Tom if he could please cast a lubrication charm on my hand. So, since my mouth was already on his cock, I spontaneously decided to try out giving head.

Beginning with some kisses and licks all over his length to get it at least slightly lubricated, I marvelled at the feeling of Tom's penis getting even harder under my ministration. I then took the upper part into my mouth as my left hand enveloped the rest of his large cock, stroking it. Sucking and licking at the sensitive tip, I felt encouraged and proud when I heard Tom's hoarse moans.

After a while though, I felt how my tongue began to tire, so my left hand wandered down to play with Tom's balls while I doubled my efforts on his cock. In the end, I needed to let go of his cock and balls with my hands, as I needed them to restrain Tom from chocking me with his thrusting hips. And then, I felt how his cock pulsed in my mouth, making me nearly choke on his sperm as Tom screamed out my name in pleasure.

I felt like the Cheshire Cat as I liked the last drops of Tom's semen from my grinning lips. And at that time I didn't even know that Tom would wake me up with a blowjob the next morning.

"That's a great way to wake up," I said, breathlessly. Tom just smirked at me.

"I thought that I would repay the favour, especially since you already were adamantly poking my thigh with your arousal," he explained.

"Yeah, I'd been dreaming about last night," I said, a bit embarrassed about the things I'd done while asleep. Hopefully I hadn't humped him too badly. "Though, didn't you say that there wouldn't be a repeat performance?" I wondered.

"I said 'you won't get a repeat performance _back home_ _'_ _._ As we're still here..."Tom trailed off.

I grabbed him by the hair and snogged him long and good. Already imagining what I could do to and with him before we had to go back home. By the end of our two weeks, I certainly couldn't say that I was nervous about the wedding night any longer.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**End Flashbacks**

**Sunday, 27th June 1998, Great Hall, Hogwarts**

_I wouldn't mind it at all if our honeymoon trip would once again take us to India. Maybe this time we can explore the southern part instead,_ I thought with a happy smile on my face.

As I finally returned my attention to the stage, I was surprised that Draco and Hermione had already finished their speeches and instead Dumbledore was standing in the spotlight, giving his talk.

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, **but also believe*,** " he said full of fervour. "And remember while your NEWTs will open doors for you, it is your friendships that will keep them open. So now, after seven years of studying and laughing with your friends, come up here to receive the keys to your dreams," Dumbledore finished his speech.

And one by one, Professor McGonagall called out the names of the graduating seventh year students to present them with their diploma.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**pregnant Nagini:** While the majority of snakes lay eggs, there are some species in existence who give birth. And since Nagini is a special, magical snake, I decided that she would not lay eggs like the common snakes.

 **Wedding outfits:** I uploaded a sketch of their wedding outfits on my deviant art account. (Link see profile page)

 **thirteen-O's:** On Pottermore, JKR said that sometimes Alchemy was also taught at Hogwarts, so overall there would be 13 classes available instead of the 12 Hermione had in third year.

" **To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."** Citation by Anatole France, French writer. It sounded so much like something Dumbledore would say that I had to use this citation.

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**Next:** The wedding which will be update in August. Until then, feel free to read my Drabble "Paved with good intentions".


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. Thank you so much for your advise regarding this chapter. :) All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** Branding the second, pervy old men

 **AN:** While Harry is still the narrator, a part of the chapter is heavily Tom centric to give you an inside look into Tom's thoughts over the last years.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **1** **2** **-~-~-**

" _When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship."_ Joseph Campbell (Author)

I would like nothing better than to say that all the sacrifices Tom and I had to make in our marriage were done to unite us. However, the reality was that we were forced to do things against our own wishes because we needed to please the rest of the Wizarding world and especially fulfil the demands Dumbledore had dug up from old and nearly forgotten laws.

And while Tom being Lord Slytherin was the reason for all the hardship, he did what he could with the power he had as our Lord to soften the demands Dumbledore had raised. However, the question remained if the damage control he could do would be enough. This only time would be able to tell.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 08th August 1998**

Today was the 8.8.1998, the day were I would finally be marrying my beloved Tom. Due to some old traditions Tom was forced to follow as Lord Slytherin, we had been forbidden to see each other for the whole month before the wedding. But at least my parents had allowed me to spend the week after graduation with Tom.

During this week, Tom had told me that he especially chose that date because the number eight was a rotated infinity symbol and he hoped that our relationship would last as long. And even after all the time we spent together, I was surprised that he could be such a romantic.

However, the happiness I felt didn't last long. On the third day into the month of forbidden contact, Draco Flooed over.

"Harry," he exclaimed just as I entered the living room to see who had come over.

"Hey, Draco," I greeted him. "Is something wrong?" I asked when I saw the look on my friend's face.

"Yes...Maybe...I don't know," he said, letting himself fall down on one of the armchairs. "I just overheard Lord Slytherin talking to my dad in his study. Apparently Dumbledore had dug up some old laws from centuries ago that demand you and Tom to do things our Lord does not like at the least. And of course, the headmaster waited until now before he sprung the news on Lord Slytherin.

"Yesterday, your fiancé tried to talk them out of enforcing these old forgotten laws, but he didn't seem to have any luck if he is asking my dad for help. And if he as our Lord couldn't do anything about it, I'm not sure that my father can solve the problem either," Draco said, his head hanging down.

"Do you know what laws they were talking about?" I asked, uneasily. If Tom was worried about them, then they certainly were bad news.

"No, not really. All I know is that it has something to do with there being no one alive who would be able to inherit his position if he should die today," Draco said. "So my best guess is that he is forced to knock you up right away to get an heir."

"Great," I groaned.

It was not even a week ago that I had gingerly touched the subject of children with Tom. After all, he was already over eighty. However, he had assured me that while having children would be expected of him, he didn't mind to wait for another five years to give me plenty of time to settle in and have some fun before a child would tie me down.

"I'll try to ask Dad for some details once he gets back from the Ministry. But knowing him, he won't tell me anything so as not to trouble either of us," Draco said.

And now, nearly a month later, Lucius Malfoy was still holding up to his son's expectations. All he had told him was that the Ministry insisted that I would have to get pregnant right away to secure Tom's bloodline and that I shouldn't worry about anything than not tripping over my own feet as my dad walked me down the aisle towards Tom.

And the only thing I could get out of my dad was that they had been forced to make some small adjustments but that I really shouldn't concern myself with them. If they involved me, I would be made aware of them in due time.

And as experienced a minute ago with handing over my wand to him, in due time apparently translated to 'right before it happens'. I didn't know how I should feel about it. I wasn't a wedding expert, but I'd never heard of anyone being wandless during their wedding. It certainly left me with a feelings of helplessness and vulnerability.

But what was worse, was the growing suspicion that neither Tom, Lucius or my father wanted to tell me anything beforehand not because they were some insignificant, tiny adjustments. But rather, because it seemed like they feared I would protest against the changes they had to make and saw springing the changes on me at the last second was their only chances to get me to go along with it without too much protest.

So, as I stood with Draco and my father in front of the big double doors, I was still unaware what exactly had troubled Tom and Lucius Malfoy in the last month. And with the unknown, a feeling of dread hovered around me like a second shadow.

"Don't worry," Draco said from before me. I obviously hadn't been able to hide my emotions from my face. "Dad said that they have it under control. So stop worrying and enjoy the happiest day of your life. Otherwise I'll be forced to come up with a new, far more embarrassing best man speech."

"I knew there was a reason for choosing you as my witness," I said with a smile. "And now turn around so that I can walk in after you," I added when the music started to play and the double doors slowly opened.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

While I had been outside talking to my friend, Tom had stood in front of the altar waiting for my arrival. Since protocol demanded that he arrived in the wedding hall an hour early, he had had plenty of time to think back on our relationship and how it had changed over the last years.

Tom suppressed the smile which wanted to form on his lips when he remember our first kiss. While he outwardly hadn't reacted to my lame attempts to kiss him during my fourth year, inwardly he had been very amused at my behaviour. And when I finally tried a much more obvious approach, he couldn't help but to enjoy my not at all sly ploy to make him jealous.

However, unknown to me his jealousy over Draco had only played a part of him finally relenting to my demand. The main reason behind his hesitation was that he didn't want to be a paedophile, especially since he was more than fifty years my senior. In the end, it was the realisation that at nearly fifteen kissing and kissing games would be a totally normal thing for me that made him relent.

And while Tom certainly enjoyed our first real kiss, he was far too in control of his own urges to let the situation go out of hand. If I had known that gripping Tom's shoulder would ruin my chances of a second kiss, I would have tried to stop my hands from touching him. But then, he may have needed some time to process his new view of what was an acceptable, non-paedophiliac behaviour in his books anyway.

This was also the reason why he only rarely kissed me after the first time. Tom had needed time to process and adjust to the changed dynamic in our relationship.

 _And not to forget our trip_ _s_ _to_ _India,_ Tom thought as the first of the more important guests started to arrive.

While he hadn't voiced it at the time, he found it fascinating how I looked so young and child-like when I put on his robes. But then, when I changed into my own beige outfit, I looked like an attractive, if young, man. So as he was combing and braiding my hair, he couldn't deny that I was slowly but surely becoming a man. A man he could be sexually involved with, without his conscience plaguing him.

However, I was still walking the line between being a boy and a man in his eyes at that time when we showered together after the wedding. To think that he only agreed because A) It was practical. B) He was the one who'd booked a room with only a bathroom in the first place. And C) With my Foreas status it was socially acceptable for us to shower and bath together.

Yes, Tom turned around to keep any bodily reactions on his part under control by thinking about a naked Dumbledore when I started stripping down. However, even the great Lord Slytherin couldn't fully suppress his natural urges and desires when we both were enclosed in the shower cubicle.

But then, in my embarrassment, I made the comment about how his hair looked ridiculous with the pink and orange colour powder. I'd crossed the figurative line I walked on in Tom's head from being a young man back to a child, stopping any chances I would have had to engage in any sort of sexual activity with him.

Still, my matured body had still affected Tom to the point that he had a hard time preventing his voice from betraying his arousal. But once again, his morals and self-proclaimed promise to not behave in a disrespectable, paedophiliac manner towards me prevented him from giving in to my pleadings.

My outburst, though, did make him think about the lines he drew. As he listened to my little speech of remorse, especially 'I know that I said that we would stop if it became too much for either of us. And obviously doing anything more than kissing is too much for you,' made him reconsider his believes. Together, with my forwardness in the shower, it made him realise that I was ready for more than just some kissing.

 _While I do want Harry to experience what other boys his age may do with their boyfriends,_ _I still can't let go of my fears of crossing a line,_ Tom thought behind his closed bedroom door that night.

Sometime he really hated that he could be so ruthless when it came to torturing Greyback's followers like Peter Pettigrew, but when it came to _his_ Harry―as he called me in his head―he was so scared of hurting me, especially emotionally through sexual and intimate actions he thought I wasn't ready for. He valued my trust and love too much to risk them for something as unimportant as satisfying his carnal desires and urges. Even if I gave him more than one sign that I was ready for more, I always seemed to do something that reminded him that I was still not a fully grown up adult yet.

 _What if I behave as if_ _I were his_ _age?_ Tom wondered. _Fifteen, nearly sixteen-year-old boys do more than just kiss._ Secretly, I believe that he was unconsciously imagining Draco and me being romantically involved when his jealous mind came up with that idea.

 _But there is still the_ _large_ _age difference between us,_ he argued with himself that night in India.

 _Maybe I can account for the difference by thinking of_ _us as late bloomers_ _?_ Tom pondered after some minutes of thinking about the dilemma. _Yes, that could work out,_ he decided.

And luckily for me, in Tom's opinion even sixteen-year-old late bloomers would be exploring each other's bodies and enter the land of frottage.

However, I can't help but to consider myself lucky that Tom's resolve to think of us as the same age lasted through our trip to Jodhpur in the following year. After all, it got him to agree to share a bed with me as well as further our exploration.

And there was still the one night where he showed me how our wedding night would be. _I can't believe how happy_ _and relieved_ _I am that Harry_ _talked me into showing him how I want our wedding night to be_ _last year,_ Tom thought as he saw Dumbledore enter the wedding hall, not hesitating to send his most gruesome glare at the headmaster.

 _At that time, I did it so that he could_ _slowly get comfortable with his sexuality,_ Tom remembered his reasoning from a year ago. _It wouldn't do if Harry w_ _as_ _all nervous and therefore_ _tense and cramped. It would have made relaxing him enough to enter him without hurting him so much harder._

 _But now, I'm happy because tonight won't turn out like how I wanted it to. Damn Dumbledore and_ _his interfering,_ _meddling tendencies,_ Lord Slytherin cursed.

 _At least Lucius and I have been able to make the old fools loosen their ridiculous demands on our wedding night,_ Tom thought. He couldn't believe that only because he had no relatives besides his mother that were still alive, he was forced by some old law to produce an heir immediately after his marriage.

 _To think that they not only wanted to watch the consumption of our marriage, but also every other time afterwards until Harry gets pregnant,_ Tom complained in his mind. He certainly didn't want an audience, and even less he liked the thought of others seeing me in the throes of passion.

 _And the chastity belt they wanted to put on him,_ Tom thought angrily, sending glares at the old men sitting around Dumbledore who would have been in the bedroom with us if Tom hadn't found a way to prevent the thing.

 _Thank Merlin that they agreed to us_ _e_ _the two potions instead._ _Even if I_ _would_ _prefer it if Severus instead of Slughorn had brewed them,_ Tom thought, looking at his trusted Potions master that was standing up with him. But with Severus being my godfather and also a very good friend to Tom, Tom couldn't find a way to counter their argument that Severus was too close to either of us to not be tempted to manipulate the potions.

 _The sacrifices one makes,_ Tom thought with a resigned look on his face. _At any rate, Slughorn is stupid enough to forget that the standard chastity potion will only prevent Harry from conceiving from anyone but me. However, he is still perfectly capable to sire children of his own with any woman he desires,_ he thought, hating the idea of me being with anyone that wasn't him.

And that is why I saw Tom's grimace when the doors to the wedding hall opened in front of me. But as soon as he spotted me, the grimace changed into a soft smile.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

While I walked down the aisle, I only had eyes for Tom, but once the Ceremony official started his lengthy and boring speech, my eyes began to wander. First, they went over to Severus, who was standing slightly behind Tom. When my godfather noticed my gaze, he gave me a short smile before he focused his attention back on the Ceremony official.

Next, I spotted the Malfoys and Lestranges sitting in the first row of Tom's side. Across the aisle, the other half of my extended family sat with my parents. Sirius gave me a big grin and a thumps up when he spotted my gaze.

My second row was reserved for my friends. Hermione gave me a happy smile while the twins winked at me, whipping away fake tears. The movement of their hands moved my gaze to the two rows behind them.

At first, I didn't know why the rows felt wrong to me. The people sitting there weren't particularly close to me, yes, but I still had seen some of them at a function or two. And the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was certainly no stranger.

But as I looked at the audience for some more time, occasionally glancing back to my family and friends, I finally noticed what was wrong. While the people close to me all wore either a happy or teary expression, the foreign politicians looked neutral with the occasional polite smile mixed in. However, Dumbledore, and the people around him, showed feelings totally out of place for a wedding.

They either looked on with self-satisfied eyes or with grim and contrite lips. It was if some of them had gotten what they desired while the others had not. My face fell at the realization.

Up to then, I'd been able to fully forget about the 'adjustments' Tom had to make because of Dumbledore. Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling while the rest of his face screamed 'Displeased!' _The changes can't be so bad_ _if_ _he is unhappy_ , I thought. His twinkling eyes still unnerved me though. But before they could make me uneasy, I heard Tom's voice as he said his wedding vows.

We'd both decided to say the standard wedding vows. Not because we didn't want to write our own personal ones, but because we didn't want strangers to hear our admittances of love and admiration. No, Tom and I agreed that such vows could always be exchanged later. Nothing was arranged yet, but we liked the idea of having a more intimate and informal ceremony with only family and close friends sometime in the near future.

I was assured in our decision at the eeriness of all the foreign eyes on us as we spoke our vows. Only the people in the first two rows saw this event with the same eyes as I; as the happy union of two people who cared deeply about each other. I don't want to know what the people in the next two rows were thinking, but the ones sitting in the following rows certainly saw nothing more than Lord Slytherin finally fulfilling his obligation as lord by getting a spouse and in time a legal heir.

I knew marriage was technically a legal contract, but didn't people get married in the first place because they loved each other? But here, nearly everyone seemed to ignore this. They only saw Tom's obligations as the Lord of Magical Britain and only seemed to care about the legality of this marriage and not about our love. I could only hope that neither of us would ever forget about our feelings for each other and become blinded by our obligations to society.

But I tried to not think about this as I finished the vows I had memorised with Draco's help. _Soon, I can call him mine,_ I thought as I smiled at Tom.

After we both finally exchanged our wedding rings, I was eagerly waiting for the Ceremony official to announce us as married. However, to my surprise, he picked up a rather small golden goblet, filled with a green liquid from a side-table together with a small knife and handed them both over to Lord Slytherin.

Opposed to me, Tom was obviously aware of what they were used for as he, without any hesitation, cut his left hand to let eight drops of his blood fall down into the goblet. After the Ceremony official took both objects back, he placed the knife back down on the side-table and held the goblet out to my lips.

As it was obvious that he wanted me to drink from the goblet, I took a small sip. _Maybe it is like the Muggle Christian tradition where one takes a sip of wine?_ I wondered. But then I heard Tom hiss-whisper in Parseltongue, _"All of it,_ " making me swallow down the whole goblet, even though the liquid tasted like a mix of firewhiskey and Flobberworm Muccus. But who said Chastity Potions had to taste nice?

After this was done, I had to empty the thick, pink content of a large, silver goblet that tasted a lot like milk with honey. _I hope this isn't a love potion,_ I thought as I took slow sips from the drink. If I learned anything in my Potions classes, it was that nearly all of the better tasting potions were somehow related to love potions.

 _Remember, there was a problem with some law or another,_ I tried to calm myself down. _And surely Tom would have warned me if it was dangerous._ However, the fact that Tom wasn't consuming either of the potions was making me even more suspicious.

But apparently they were not worried at all about Tom's procreative capacity, even though he was entering an age where his ability to knock me up the first time was questionable. Maybe it was because he didn't look a day over twenty-eight or perhaps because they were all too scared of embarrassing their Lord. Whatever their reason, it was only me who had to drink the very strong and potent fertility potion Slughorn had brewed.

And then finally, after I'd also emptied the second goblet, did the Ceremony official pronounce us as husbands, or as "Lord Slytherin and his Consort" to use the Ceremony official's words. Because, as much as Tom and I saw ourselves as equals―or as equal as two people with such a different amount of life-experience could be―society still viewed me as someone lower than Tom; just because I was a Foreas.

This is also why instead of "You can now kiss your spouse" the Ceremony official said "You now may claim your Consort." Words, neither Tom nor I wanted to hear. But alas, what could we do in a room full of not only beloved family and friends, but also of foreign Ministers and other people like Dumbledore who would like nothing better than to find a reason to end Tom's reign.

From my vantage point at the altar, I could see how both my father and Sirius had to restrain my mother from making a spectacle out of herself by protesting against the marking. But we were all too aware that Tom had to mark me today and that the mark need to be at either one of two places―my left chest, right over my heart or my left ass cheek. Personally, I preferred the first option as I absolutely did not want to show all of these people my naked ass.

Luckily for me, Tom wasn't a fan of exhibitionism either and placed his mark on my left breast, only forcing me to drop the upper half of my wedding robes. With gritted teeth, Draco and Severus watched as Tom cast the branding spell on me.

"Clamare dominii," Tom said in a cold, unemotional voice. The ones who didn't know Tom like I do would think that he didn't care at all that he was marking me, but people like I and Severus knew better. Tom forced himself to stay this cool and cold, because if he allowed his emotions to take over, he would never finish the spell. And that was something neither of us could allow to happen. Thus I gritted my teeth and tried to not let out any screams with all the people watching me like hawks, only waiting for a display of weakness, as I knelt in front of the Ceremony official and Tom.

Did I enjoy the procedure?―Hell no. But at least this time I already knew what was to come. I wasn't kneeling on the Slytherin Claiming Ritual pillow without a reason. Was it worse than the last time when my father marked me?―I don't know. Though I know that because of its larger size the branding did take longer than the last marking. Did Tom enjoy seeing his mark on my body?―If I hadn't screamed in agony, maybe. But as it was, he like the rest of my friends and family just hoped that the spell would be finished soon. Did any of the guests enjoy to listen to my screams of pain?―Since Draco told me that Dumbledore sat smiling with his twinkling eyes in the third row, I guess he did enjoy watching my pain and agony. Did Severus' special pain potion work as well as the last time?―Thank Merlin, Morgana and Slytherin, Yes. I really didn't know how I would have been able to stand up for an hour to receive congratulations from all the guests without its aid.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

It was only nine in the evening when Tom and I took our leave from the wedding celebration. So far I had been enjoying it. At least during one of our many dances, Tom had found the time to explain to me what the potions I took were and also warned me that I wouldn't like what was about to happen in the next hours and should just walk straight to the bed inside the bedchamber without saying anything to anyone. He would explain it to me once we were alone.

I really wanted to ask why right then and there. Why would there even be people for me to talk too? Was the one question that was in the forefront of my mind. But his whispered " _Later,_ " coupled with the sad and pleading expression on his face stopped me from opening my mouth.

As we walked out of the ballroom, I heard at least five different footsteps following us. At every turnoff we passed I intently listed for their sounds to disappear but instead their clicking sounds on the marble floor only became louder in my ears. As we reached our room for the night, I had a very good suspicion what they were here for and I didn't like it in the least. I took a short look over my shoulder and counted eight people in total, one of them being Severus, which greatly surprised me.

"You must both surrender your wands," Dumbledore demanded, holding out his hand.

"Harry has already given his to his father before the wedding," Tom answered. "And Severus will be safekeeping mine," he added as he demonstratively moved his wand over Dumbledore's outstretched hand and placed it into Severus' long fingers. And without a word, Severus walked away.

With a furious look on his face, Dumbledore lowered his hand and took out his own wand. "Close the door, so that we can lock you in," he demanded instead of asking like any well behaved person would have done.

As soon as he said it, I couldn't shake it from my mind. _Lock_. There was just something to forceful, punishing, behind it and combined with the demands, the evening just kept moving further and away from the romantic, loving affair that a wedding night is supposed to be. As if in trance, I did as instructed and walked towards the big four-poster bed which stood alone in the middle of the room, empty of any other furniture, making it obvious what was expected of us.

"Be my guest," Tom said, stepping back into the room, not making a move to close the door himself.

From my vantage point on the bed, I saw how Dumbledore made some hand signs to the men around him, and got three of the 'younger' Ministry officials―they were all even older than Tom―to shut the door.

I thought that Tom would now come over to me. We were alone, rid of Dumbledore and his twistedness and Tom would finally able to explain as he promised. However, he still stood in front of the door, looking at it in concentration, as if he was trying to listen in to what was said behind it. He stood in silence, as if I wasn't even there waiting for an explanation or comfort. Waiting for him. And I watched him, confused and growing more and unsure and uncomfortable by the minute.

It was nearly twenty minutes later when he finally turned around and walked towards me. As I opened my mouth to ask a question, Tom put his finger on his lips, motioning me to still keep silent. I watched as Tom walked around the old wooden four-poster bed, closing the curtains and enclosing me in darkness.

Only when the last drape was closed did Tom enter the bed. Before I could even think of speaking up, once again, he put his finger on my lips and then began to make some movements with his hands. From our time spent in India, I realised that he was performing wandless and wordless magic.

It was another ten minutes before Tom finally spoke, _"I'm sorry that you had to wait. The nos_ _e_ _y people Dumbledore and the rest of his friends are, they not only warded the door so that we couldn't leave, but also put spells on it which allows them to listen to what goes on in this room._ _And while I'm not able to deactivate their charms on this room without them noticing, I can block their magic from reaching_ _through the bed curtains_ _."_

" _Should I speak in Parseltongue too?_ " I asked.

" _I haven't found any trace of magic in this bed. However, it wouldn't be above Dumbledore to have_ _had it_ _bugged with Muggle spying_ _contraptions_ _,_ " Tom answered.

" _Should we searched for them?_ " I asked. " _I certainly would feel better knowing that my old headmaster doesn't have a way to spy on us."_

" _Then let's take a look._ " Tom performed another piece of wandless magic to provide us both with a small, cold flame that hovered on our left hand, making the search much easier.

" _Just so you know, if it becomes necessary, I can break down the wards they put on the door to lock us in till tomorrow morning. It will just take me a bit longer than if I had my wand with me,_ " Tom said as he searched the area around the headboard while I looked around the foot board.

" _But couldn't Severus or someone else just break the wards from the other side?"_ I wondered, feeling slightly better at the knowledge that we had a way out of this room.

" _He could. Thus, Dumbledore and his perverted friends will be sitting all night long in front of the door, hoping to hear a sound._ "

" _Doesn't it stand in conflict of Dumbledore being a headmaster?_ " I asked. " _Certainly someone who teaches children isn't supposed to stand in front of the door of one of his just graduated students?"_

" _As you already experienced with your Foreas status, the Wizarding world is strange most of the times when it comes to situations like these,_ " Tom said, making us both get lost in our own thoughts about the subject as we continued our search.

" _I haven't found anything at my end,"_ I announced five minutes later, feeling relieved but still fearing that I overlooked something.

"Me neither," Tom answered in English now.

"Thank, Merlin. I really don't know how I would have felt if we'd found something," I said.

With all the worrying about Dumbledore and his spies, neither of us was in the right mood for anything sexual. Thus, Tom sat up against the headboard while I let myself fall down on the bed, laying with my head on the pillow, facing Tom's lap.

"So, did you like the cake?" Tom asked conversationally.

"Oh yes," I answered, remembering the very tasty red velvet cake with the rich dark chocolate cream. "And even better was that the cake wasn't girly at all," I added.

"I agree. As nice as flowers are, I certainly preferred our cake with Nagini and Nagijan made out of sugar-paste coiled around it as the main decoration," Tom voiced his opinion. "Though your godfather should have gone without comparing you to the cake with the way Nagijan was coiled around you."

"That's Sirius for you. Besides, Nagijan was just worried about me. Without my wand, he thought it necessary to defend me himself from all the pervy old men," I explained.

"And am I one of those pervy old men?" Tom asked me as he moved from resting against the headboard to loom above me, effectively caging me with his body, his underarms resting besides my head to keep his weight off me.

"No," I answered. "You're just my Tom."

"I'm yours?" he asked questioningly.

"Yes, you are," I said and moved up my right hand to bring his head down to my lips to give him a long, claiming kiss.

And just like that Dumbledore and the rest of the old men standing outside the bedchamber were forgotten and Tom and got lost in ourselves.

"Hmm, what did I tell you I would do next?" Tom asked me after a long and enjoyable snogging session. "Ah, yes. Take off your shirt," he answered and did just that. Slowly opening the buttons on my dress shirt, and kissing the newly exposed skin.

"Tom," I moaned in pleasure. I really had missed all the intimacy we shared back in India. When all buttons were undone, he fully opened my shirt.

"I'm sorry," Tom suddenly said. Before I could ask why, he kissed the mark he'd left on my left breast, right over my heart.

"It's not your fault," I said, caressing his hair. "We both know that it had to be done."

"Still―" he began.

"Shh," I said to silence him, placing my forefinger on his lips. "My father marked me years ago and there's no way you could have prevented that. Besides, Severus' potions are still the best," I ended with a big smile.

"That we agree on," he told me.

"Good. And now kiss me again before I'll have to kiss you," I demanded.

"But if memory serves me right, I promised you I'd play with your nipples next," was Tom's comeback.

"And I want a kiss now," I repeated and leaned my head upwards to reach Tom's lips.

I felt how Tom chuckled into my mouth. But that didn't stop me from divesting him from his own dress shirt while he wasn't distracting me with nipping and twisting my nipples.

When I was finished with my task, I ended the kiss and teased, "Didn't you also say something about me fumbling with the buttons of your shirt?"

"You can still fumble with the buttons of my trousers."

"Any more changes?" I asked. "Maybe you want to bottom?" I suggested.

"Not a chance," Tom answered, going so far as to vanish my remaining clothes to make a point.

"We'll see," I said. While I was unsure if I would ever be able to convince Tom to bottom for me, I was very confident that I would have no problems at all getting him to submit to me if I ever rode him.

"Yeah?" Tom asked before he leaned down to draw me into another long and heated kiss.

Pinning my hands above my head and holding them in place with one hand, he used his second hand to draw circles on my stomach. Ever so slowly the circle's centre shifter lower and lower until Tom's forefinger made contact with my pubic hair. From there, his circles became much smaller and it felt like it took him longer and longer to continue downwards.

"Please!" I begged.

"That's just what I wanted to hear," Tom answered and finally touched my cock. But instead of the handjob I expected, Tom put something cold around my cock.

Before I could ask what he did, he said, "Just to make sure that you don't come too early." When he saw my pouty expression he added, "Don't worry, I'll take it off soon enough. But till then, lay back and enjoy."

And with that Tom lowered his mouth to my cock and started licking. Soon, one of his lubricated fingers was generously smearing lube around my entrance before it slowly entered me.

As I started to make sounds of passion, and felt my penis swell with blood, Tom continued to suck my cock and added two more fingers until I was prepared enough for his taste.

"Can you control yourself?" he asked me as he extracted his fingers. While I was surely more than aroused, I was confident that I wouldn't orgasm just by being penetrated.

"Yes," I rasped out in a hoarse voice. Then, and only then, did he remove the ring he'd placed on my cock.

After he re-pocketed the ring, Tom made a brushing motion with his hands which resulted in his remaining articles of clothing vanishing.

"Didn't you say something about me taking off your trousers?" I asked. With the clothes gone, it was more than obvious that Tom was eager to enter me.

"There's always a next time," he answered as he placed one of the pillows under my hips. And then he positioned himself between my spread open legs and gently entered me, only ever inserting an inch before he stopped and gave me some time to adjust.

When he was fully inside of me, he halted once again and looked into my eyes, waiting. After about half a minute of taking slow breaths, I felt like I was ready for him to move. "You can start moving."

Instead of doing as instructed, Tom only moved half-way out as a result of leaning down to give me another long, and this time sweet, kiss.

When he straightened up again, he finally started moving. While I certainly enjoyed the feeling of being this deeply connected with my now husband, it took a while before the angle of Tom's thrusts changed so that his cock was hitting my prostate in just the right way.

I breathed out words of none sense, occasionally mixed with Tom's name as I just felt. My hands finding their way into his hair and the bed sheets under me. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly I felt how my feet started to tingle and a hot-cold, nearly electric impulse moved up my body until it concentrated in my lower stomach.

"Ah, Tom...close," I moaned out, when I felt my orgasm was imminent.

"Let go, Harry," Tom answered back, his breath shallow.

After three more fast thrusts from Tom, I finally came, letting my orgasm overtake me as my contracting muscles milked Tom's penis.

I wasn't aware how long we just lay there on the bed with Tom's spent member still inside of me, but by the time I finally started to come out of my post-orgasm daze, I felt him slowing removing himself and laying down next to me on the bed.

Tom moved his hand to my face to move the hair that had escaped my braid from my cheeck and then leaned over me to give me a short kiss on the lips, before he let his head again rest on one of the pillows.

I don't know if it was because of the drawn curtains around us that Tom had to charm to protect us from Dumbledore's listening ears, but when I felt a tingling in my stomach area, my immediate though was, _Hopefully, I'm already pregnant so that we won't have_ _to worry about_ _an audience tomorrow._

"Sleep well," Tom said, giving me a kiss on the forehead as I snuggled up into his arms, trying to suppress anymore thoughts of who waited outside for us.

"You too," I mumbled. _Who would have thought that anal sex could be so exhausting?_ _Hopefully, I'll wake up before Dumbledore and co enter the room,_ I thought as I fell asleep, obviously not successful at all at forgetting about Dumbledore.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Can a night really be called a wedding night, when no avowals of "I love you" were exchanged? Can it be called a falling asleep in your husband's embrace, when the last thought on your mind was 'Hopefully we wake up before our audience enters the room?' Can it be called making love, when the first though after you come back from your orgasmic high is 'Hopefully, I'm already pregnant so that we won't have an audience again tomorrow'?

My answer to these questions is a clear "No!" However, if you would apply the same line of questions to a certain night spend in Jodhpur, the result would be the complete opposite.

While we didn't express our love with words, we still showed our feelings with the way we caressed and kissed each other. While we didn't bid each other 'Good night', our beloved was the last thing on our minds when we not only fell asleep, but also awoke the next morning. While we may not have anal intercourse, we still did make love.

As you can see, even though we made some 'sacrifices' during the night in Jodhpur, they were insignificant in comparison to the sacrifices we made when it came to our actual wedding night. And these sacrifices were rather small in comparison to the ones we had to make during the course of our marriage.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** I hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter. Btw, without my beta, Harry and Tom would have feared Muggle (spying) "contraceptions" instead of spying contraptions. And while the use of a condom would have prevented Harry from getting pregnant, it would have also given Dumbledore another chance to spy on them.

 **Next:** The next update will be around October/November


	14. Chapter 13-Part I

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:**

**AN: Happy holidays!** Originally I wanted this and the next chapter to be one. However, as I haven't updated in a long while, I thought that a short chapter is still a better belated Christmas present than none at all.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **13 –** **Part I** **-~-~-**

"People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked."

Paul Newman (American actor)

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 9th August 1998**

"Wake up, Harry," I heard Tom whisper into my ear before he kissed his way down from my right ear to my collarbone and then up to my lips.

"Hmm," I hummed into the kiss, not wanting to open my eyes. "How late is it?" I asked, still feeling very sleepy.

"Half past six."

"Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?" I asked in annoyance, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Because I fear that Dumbledore will visit us at sunrise," Tom answered through gritted teeth.

_Great!_ was all I could think. _Why does Dumbledore have to ruin this morning too?_ I asked myself sarcastically, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to wake up.

"Better get dressed before they walk in," Tom advised me as he moved away from me to reach for his discarded clothes from the previous day that lay at the end of the bed.

"How is it that you were already awake?" I asked as I put on my underwear.

"I cast an alarm charm last night." At Tom's words my stomach turned. If he wasn't able to perform wandless magic so easily, we would have had no way to get up before they would storm the bedroom. Considering how tired I was, I would have slept until eight or nine, and they would have walked in to find me naked.

"Don't bother with your shirt," Tom said as he buttoned his own shirt up. "They will insist that a pregnancy test be cast on you to confirm that you're with child."

_Pregnancy test. With child._ These were the words that echoed in my mind, again and again.

_I was pregnant,_ I thought, forgetting how to breathe. While hours ago I had prayed for this event to happen, then it was just the only possibility to protect Tom and I from a having sex in front of an audience. But this morning, I finally realised that being pregnant meant that I was with child. In nine months, there would be a little baby joining the world. Mine and Tom's child.

_I_ _'_ _m_ _n_ _o_ _t ready to be a parent just yet. Merlin, I still s_ _ee_ _myself as my parents' child,_ I began to panic.

"It's okay, Harry," Tom told me, laying a comforting arm over my shoulder. "I'll be with you all the way." I barely noticed his reassurances.

_A life is growing inside of me,_ I thought, unconsciously laying both of my hands on my still flat stomach.

"Trust me, everything will turn out alright in the end," Tom said, laying a hand over mine and giving me a sweet, reassuring kiss, letting me forget for a moment why I was panicking. "Just trust me, Harry."

"I do trust you," I answered, snuggling into Tom's comforting embrace.

"Good," he said, giving me a kiss on tip of my head. "While I would love to stay just like this, we will soon be interrupted. They are already starting to take down the wards on the door that are supposed to keep us locked in."

I groaned and then pouted when Tom moved away from me towards the curtains.

"The sooner they're done, the sooner we'll be alone again." I nodded in acknowledgement, giving Tom a small smile in return. "Just stay mute so that they don't get suspicious about the curtains," Tom said before he started to take off the silencing spell he cast last night and then opened the curtains, like nothing had been done to them

Not even a minute had passed after Tom'd finished his task and sat up against the headboard, when the door burst open and Dumbledore and his 'friends' walked in. _Hadn't they heard about knocking?_ _If Tom hadn't woken me up in time, I would still have been asleep and naked!_ I thought in outrage.

"Oh, you are already awake. That's wonderful," Dumbledore said in a falsely joyful voice. I hated how the eyes of all the old men focused on my naked torso. I shuddered from the creepy feeling I got from their stares.

"Eldridge, if you would please cast the pregnancy test," Dumbledore asked an older man with glasses, wearing light green robes.

"As if such a thing is necessary, Albus," another man spoke up. He was one of the younger wizards and wore dark grey robes. He stood at the foot of the bed, his gaze focused on the white bed sheets. "It is more than clear that the marriage wasn't consummated."

"I'm sure that they fulfilled their duty, even if the current evidence speaks for the contrary," Albus said, going so far as to move the duvet even farther towards to end of the bed to find the bloody spot.

"No blood, no fucking. It's as easy as that," the wizard in the dark grey robes said crudely, when all that was revealed was more white.

"Eldridge, if you please..." Dumbledore asked once again for the other wizard to step forward, for now seemingly ignoring the troublemaker. However, the twinkling in his eyes told me that he would be very happy if the accusation was true and the marriage was still unconsummated. _How can such a pervert be the Headmaster of a school?_ I wondered for the nth time.

As Eldridge stepped forward to stand directly in front of where I was sitting on the bed, I wasn't paying attention to the charm being conjured from his wand because my thoughts were elsewhere.

_'No blood, no fucking'_ The old wizard's words echoed loudly in my head. _There was only no fucking blood on the_ _damned white_ _sheets because Tom was able to cast a wandless lubrication charm!_ I yelled in the privacy of my head. _Those perverted old man had purposely taken away our wands so that Tom couldn't properly prepare and lubricate me. And I am damn hell sure that they also not so accidentally totally forgot_ _to_ _at least leaving us a tube of lube. Just so that I would bleed on the sheets like a female virgin is supposed to do when she isn't properly prepared either!_

_They actually desired Tom to take me in the most brutal and painful way possible. They may even have tried to listened in on what had been going on in here last night just to hear my screams when Tom penetrated me._ _The silence that met them must have second_ _ed_ _their assumption that the marriage wasn't consummated last night._

_The nerve of these men!_ I yelled in my head and would probably soon have slipped into voicing my thoughts out loud, if Tom hadn't put a calming hand on my shoulder, stopping my thoughts from getting away with me while those wizard were still in the same room with us. Something, Tom and I surely would have paid a heavy price for.

"As you can see," Tom said in a calm, self-satisfied voice to Dumbledore and his friends. "Harry is pregnant and thus the marriage was properly consummated."

"He must have been pregnant before the marriage," the wizard in the dark grey robes huffed out.

"Even if he had been, the fertility potion Slughorn brewed was so strong that it would have resulted in an abortion," Tom calmly stated. And then he added, "Though, then you at least would have had your bloody sheet to hang on your bedroom wall. Isn't this right, Eldridge?" he asked the Healer, which was stammeringly confirmed by the addressed older wizard.

"It seems like we have confirmed what we have come here for," Dumbledore decided to say before the situation could get out of hand. I had to admit that the wizard in the grey robes really looked angry enough to snap at the next slightest cutting remark from Tom. "I'm sure you don't mind if I announce Harry's pregnancy to the rest of the community, do you?" Albus asked, but he was already on his way out of the room, the rest of his 'friends' following behind him like ducklings do with their mothers.

Happy that they were leaving, I took my shirt out of Tom's hand to finally put it on. But once my head was through the opening, my eyes met the cold stare of the wizard in the dark grey robes with even darker eyes who took his sweet time to close the door behind him. His evil, dark eyes not leaving me, making me shiver.

And then finally, with a loud bang, the door closed behind him, leaving me alone with Tom.

"It's okay. They're gone now," Tom comfortingly whispered into my ear, his strong arms surrounding my middle, his hands protectively placed on my stomach. "And trust me, I'll use everything in my power to make sure that they won't come near you ever again."

"Thank you," I whispered, closing my eyes. While their visit had only lasted five minutes, I was totally exhausted and let sleep claim me once more, now that I was safely back in Tom's loving embrace.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And thus my pregnancy status was confirmed. And with it, Dumbledore's plan for Tom's destruction was slowly but certainly set into motion.


	15. Chapter 13 - Part II

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** Here is the final and longer half of chapter 13. Enjoy!

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by StillWatersAreDeep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **13 – Part II** **-~-~-**

" _When you're pregnant, you can think of nothing but having your own body to yourself again, yet after having given birth you realize that the biggest part of you is now somehow external, subject to all sorts of dangers and disappearance, so you spend the rest of your life trying to figure out how to keep it close enough for comfort."_

Jodi Picoult (Author)

During my pregnancy, I not only thought about having my old body back, but also about having my old, uncomplicated life back. I detested how Dumbledore and his friends had so much say about how I should behave while I was pregnant.

_Why? Oh why, didn't Tom destroy the old laws Dumbledore dug up before they became our downfall?_ Or maybe—just maybe—Tom should have killed Dumbledore for 'The Greater Good'. But alas, Fate had decided that it wasn't meant to be... At least not in this life.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Thursday, 22nd October 1998**

As if it hadn't been bad enough that Tom and I didn't get to enjoy a lengthy honeymoon because one of the ridiculous old laws forbids a pregnant Consort from leaving the country, or from travelling at all, Tom and I only had the day after the wedding for ourselves before duty, aka Dumbledore and friends, demanded the majority of Tom's time.

And as if being separated from Tom during the day was not enough to cause me misery, Dumbledore had to find another of the old, unfortunately not long revoked, laws whose only aim was to severely restrict the human contacts I was allowed to have while I was pregnant. It essentially stated that besides Tom, only Healers and Ministry officials who were tasked to report on the heir's development were allowed to see me during my pregnancy.

And while I could more or less understand why they wanted to protect me—or Tom's heir to be specific—from being harmed by Lord Slytherin's enemies, political or otherwise, I could not understand how this included my parents and good friends. If anything, it should be Dumbledore and the bloody Ministry officials I should be kept away from. Not my family!

To top it off, I was only three weeks into my pregnancy when morning sickness kicked in. Though, it should really be called 'All Day' sickness with how I'd hardly been able to keep anything down during the last two months. Not even my beloved treacle tart.

And while Bella, who Tom had appointed as my personal Healer, tried everything in her and Severus' power to stop―or at least lessen the effect of my morning sickness―they had not been overly successful. This of course, together with my heavy weight loss, was the perfect reason for Dumbledore to interfere once again.

Bella and I were patiently—or in my case not so patiently—awaiting Tom's return from yet another meeting with Dumbledore's puppets so that he too could enjoy listening to the sound of our child's beating heart. Just hearing the sound had made me smile for the last hour. But instead of being able to greet my beloved Tom with a hug and kiss and asking Bella to perform the spell again, I was forced to formally greet Tom's self-invited 'guests'.

With false concern, Dumbledore together with Healer Eldridge and the rest of his ducklings had come to Slytherin Manor to inquire about my health―or to be correct, the health of my still unborn child. Knowing those old men, they wouldn't care at all if I died during childbirth, as long as 'Tom's heir' was alive at the end of it.

So, to my great dislike, I was once again forced to expose my upper body to all of these men, doing my best to look at Bella and Tom instead of the lustful gazes Dumbledore and more than one of his friends threw my way, Dumbledore's eyes twinkling more rapidly with every item of clothing I took off.

After Healer Eldridge asked me to lean down on the recliner, I became even more exposed to their greedy, yet almost ecstatic stares. I felt like I was laid out on a silver platter for them to consume me with their hungry eyes as I was forced to allow Healer Eldridge to cast his charms and spells.

While Eldridge did confirm ten minutes later that the child inside of me was perfectly healthy and strong, it did not stop him from pointing out that my weight loss could be dangerous to the child in the near future.

The old man that, the last time I saw him, had so nicely had pointed out _'No blood, no fucking',_ then had the audacity to question Bellatrix's qualification as a Healer. _Were they so old that the_ _y were deaf to_ _the many praises Bellatrix had gotten over the last years for her healing talents?_ I wondered, barely stopping myself from asking the question out loud, as I quickly redressed myself to cover my exposed skin from their view.

"I assure you that Mrs Lestrange is very much qualified for this task," Tom informed them.

"Obviously not," the cantankerous old man said with a sneer. "I suggest that someone more qualified like Eldridge or Osbert should be given the task to monitor the heir's progress."

How much his words sounded like I was manufacturing a tool inside of my body instead of a child made me shudder. To make it worse, he did not sound even the slightest bit interested in my own health. _No, he and the others are probably only interested in watching my naked body during all of my future examination_ _s_ _, on the pretence of making sure that the heir is well and healthy._ At that thought, I could feel my body shaking again and could only hope that they thought it was from the lack of proper clothing.

"Moody," Bellatrix said in an angry voice, finally giving a name to the man I started to hate nearly as much as Dumbledore. "I will let you know that there is no one. _No one!_ " she emphasised, "that is more qualified to look after Harry _and_ his child than me," she stressed.

"Says the one that isn't even able to get herself knocked up," Moody answered, raising his head haughtily, well aware that he was attacking Bellatrix where it would hurt the most.

Not even a millisecond passed before Bella had drawn her wand and was pointing it at Moody, who was only seconds behind in pulling out his own wand, ready to attack.

"Now, my dears, let's not forget why we are here," Dumbledore said in his calm, grandfatherly voice. 'T _o stare some more at Harry,_ ' my mind finished for me.

"You came here to verify that my unborn child is in good health," Tom spoke up, wanting nothing more than to make Dumbledore and appendage leave us alone. "And as both present Healers confirmed that the child is strong and healthy, I see no reason for you to stay any longer."

"For now," Moody said mockingly. "Be assured that we'll be back," he said in parting, staring at me with his cold, calculating eyes as everyone but Dumbledore following him out of the room.

"Don't worry. I'll find an acceptable Healer for Harry," Dumbledore said joyfully to Tom, completely ignoring me. And just like the day after our wedding, Dumbledore left the room without giving Tom the chance to reply that another Healer wasn't needed.

"He cannot assign a differently Healer to me, can he?" I asked fearfully, clinging to Bellatrix, the joy I felt when hearing my child's heartbeat long forgotten.

"He certainly cannot forbid me from looking after you," she answered, her eyes shining with the determination of a lioness protecting her cub.

"But it won't stop the old fool from trying," Tom said in an exhausted voice as he sat down in an armchair, already hating the extra hours he would have to spend in the upcoming weeks to protect me from Dumbledore's approved Healer getting a hold of me.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Tuesday, 3rd November 1998**

What I feared the most had happened. Despite Tom's protest and resistance, Dumbledore and his friends had achieved their goal and had Bellatrix dismissed as my personal Healer and replaced with someone else. Someone of the male gender to be specific.

Apparently **§2-5** of the old law stated:

_**~§2-5:** _

_**a) Only the best suited Healer should supervise the development of the heir. The Healer distinguishes themselves by having a** _ _**v** _ _**ast knowledge on the pregnancy process. This not exclusively includes expertise on the Consort's body's needs that are essential for a healthy development of the heir. Further, the Healer has to be a member of the British Wizarding community since birth.** _

_**b) The Healer, as described in a), is obligated by law to at least write one report per month on the unborn heir's pro** _ _**gr** _ _**ess for the Ministry's evaluation.** _

_**c) If the evaluation of the heir's pro** _ _**gr** _ _**ess is not to the Ministry's satisfaction, they reserve the right to demand that a new Healer that fulfils the demands of a) is appointed.** _

_**d) In the case of c), the new Healer the Lord chose must be approved by the Ministry. If after one month the Ministry and the Lord are not able to agree on a suitable new Healer, the Ministry reserves the right to appoint a Healer of their choosing without the Lord's approval to protect the well-being of the heir.~** _

Dumbledore had somehow been able to persuade Ministry members and the public to believe his interpretation of **§2-5 a)** ofthe old law. Apparently, in Dumbledore's world, a female like Bella did not fulfil the demands of **§2-5 a)**. In his interpretation, 'having a vast knowledge of the Consort's body's needs' could only be truly gained by a fellow Foreas. And as there currently weren't any Healers that were a Foreas, Dumbledore had convinced the Ministry members that a male Healer would be the next best thing that fulfilled **§2-5 a)**.

I do not know the details as everyone wanted to protect me from a possible miscarriage due to unnecessary stress, but what snippets I've been able to hear from my family members made me sincerely doubt the intelligence of the Ministry members. While they did believe that Bellatrix had been doing a good job so far, they actually agreed with Dumbledore that only a male would really know what a pregnant Foreas required. And thus, because of having the wrong anatomy, Bellatrix was suddenly found an unsuitable candidate for the Healing position according to the damned law **§2-5 a)**.

How could they believe that a normal, non-childbearing male would have better knowledge about what is best for a pregnant Foreas than a woman? If they'd insisted that my Healer had to have given birth to a child of her own to know first-hand what it means to be pregnant, I could have been able to forgive their ridiculous demand. For all I care they could have appointed a fellow Foreas as an adviser to Bella and I would have been happy. But no, they insisted that my new Healer had to be a man.

And if **§2-5 a)** wasn't bad enough, **§2-5 d)** made the situation even worse. When I asked Tom one evening who the Ministry approved Healer candidates were, the only answer I received was: "You do not want to know."

"That bad?" I asked, not hesitating to cuddle into Tom's open arms to seek comfort from my beloved husband. I could not believe that Dumbledore had so much influence over the Ministry that apparently the only acceptable candidates were pervy old men that were under Dumbledore's thumb.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm already working on a solution," Tom said to me with a sweet kiss to my lips. "You remember Barty Crouch?" he asked, as he comfortingly stroked my hair. I nodded and then went back to listening to Tom's calming heartbeat. "His son, Barty Crouch Jr. is a Healer. While he and Bella regularly disagree about the best methods of treatment, he is good at his job and more importantly despises Dumbledore. I am currently trying to locate him."

When I looked up with questioning eyes, Tom explained to me that Crouch Jr. had left Britain about half a year ago to study the healing practise of the native wizards in South America. And as no one knew with which tribe or even in which country he currently was, it would take some time before he could be located and ask to come back to Britain to work as my Healer.

Tom and I hoped that Crouch Jr. could be located before the one month time limit was up. That the Ministry officials would accept Crouch Jr. was certain. While Dumbledore would not want someone out of his influence like Crouch Jr. as my Healer, Crouch Sr. would not stand for his son to be found an unsuitable candidate. So our only hope was that Tom's people would be able to find Crouch Jr. in time.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Friday, 20th November 1998**

"I hate Barty and his methods," Bella complained as she performed her own medical check up on me and my child.

"Is something wrong with my child?" I asked worriedly, even though Barty had told me not even two days ago that everything was fine.

"No, your child is alright. I'm more worried about you," she told me.

"Why?" I asked. "Thanks to Barty's potions I finally stopped throwing up all the time," I said, tactfully leaving out that Barty had blamed Bellatrix for not giving me the correct treatment for the morning sickness. The fast improvement of his potions had made even Tom wonder if maybe Bellatrix hadn't been the best Healer to look after me.

"I do not know what potion he is giving you to stop the vomiting, but the Nutrition potions you're also taking are not good for you. They are only meant to be taken for a week. As an extended use, they are very unhealthy for your digestive system," she explained.

"Besides, if you've stopped throwing up, I do not see the need for you to even take the Nutrition potions as you should get everything your body needs from the food you're eating," she said, getting suspicious of Barty's methods. "And considering that you are now in your second trimester, I believe that your lessened morning sickness has more to do with it going away naturally as it does for nearly all women that enter their fourth month of pregnancy," she stated.

But before she could say more, Crouch Jr. entered the sitting room. "Bellatrix," greeted her. "I believe that the Ministry has assigned me and not you to look after Harry's health," he said, clearly dismissing the witch from the room.

While I was happy that I was finally rid of the morning sickness, Bella's words made me wonder about Barty's expertise. She had raised a good point when she said that the Nutrition potions should not be necessary as I could eat normally again. _Maybe I should ask Severus to take a closer look at the potion I_ _was taking_ _?_ I wondered. It would be difficult though. Crouch Jr. insisted that I take that potion every day at four o'clock. He always brought the potion with him and made me drink the concoction under his supervision before he took the empty vial back with him.

After swallowing my daily dose, I asked, "Why do you not leave some of the potion with me? I can assure you that I am perfectly able to take the potion on time. This way you would not have to come here every day."

"While I believe that you can take the potion on your own, I do not trust Bellatrix to not steal one of the vials to find out the secret behind my success," he said with a smirk. "Besides, I do not mind checking up on you. With Dumbledore out for you, it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**November 1998 to February 1999**

During the following months, I did not feel like a human being any longer. I did not even feel like a god-damned broodmare. No, I felt like a thing; nothing more than an incubator for Lord Slytherin's heir. Except for the twenty-second day of each month. On this special day, I did not only feel like an incubator but also like a live action porn exhibit after which eighty plus year old men could lust after and stare at in the name of a health check-up.

Their obsession with my 'health' went even so far that when the twenty-second of December came, they demanded that I not only expose my torso to their exploring gazes but also take off my pants. Apparently my stomach had grown so much since the November check-up that the waistband of my trousers was covering too much of my rounded stomach for their likening. And while I admit that I had developed a noticeable bump, I could not understand why I had to completely strip off my trousers instead of just opening the buttons and lowering the zip to expose the part of my stomach that would otherwise be hidden from their view.

Understandably, from that check-up on I could not see my ever growing stomach for what it was: a living being developing from a foetus to a little baby which I soon would be able to hold in my arms. So it is no surprise that I rarely thought of the baby during these days. I couldn't even think about the parent I would become or the life I would have after these last four months were up. Maybe it was because in my eyes, I was no longer a person.

With each set of clothes that became too tight, I feared that Dumbledore or one of the others would demand that I completely undress in front of them during my next check-up with the sorry excuse that my underwear was covering too much of my stomach for their taste.

Once Bellatrix told me that the check-up spells did not require me to uncover the lowest part of my stomach to still work properly, their lustful stares became even more intensive. Just knowing that the only reason for me to disrobe more than absolutely necessary was to satisfy their pervert whims and desires, made me notice their heated gazes even more than before.

The thought that Crouch Jr. as my Healer should have the authority to stop them from demanding such things did cross my mind. When I told Tom about it he did express his dislike for Crouch's inaction. However, he forbid me from asking Barty to do anything about it, reminding me of the damned paragraph **§2-5 d)** of the old law Dumbledore loved so much. And while I could understand that he feared that Dumbledore would find a reason to replace Crouch Jr. with one of his puppets if Barty did not at least somewhat comply with Dumbledore's whims, I still did not like it at all.

The haunting and frightening feelings I had because of Dumbledore and his friends during my check-ups also stopped me from telling anyone—and especially not Barty who was bound to inform Dumbledore—about having felt my child move inside of me the day after Boxing Day. And while I told myself that I was not telling Tom right away because I wanted it to be a surprise for his birthday, the closer New Year's Eve came, the more I shied away from telling him until eventually I was resolved to not even tell my own husband, the other father of the child, about it.

In the end, I was forced to admit to feeling my child move when Barty warned me a week before my January check-up that no movement in the sixth month of pregnancy would be a reason for Dumbledore to worry about the health of the heir. So, I begrudgingly admitted that the child was moving. And just as I feared, Dumbledore did not hesitate to use my child's movement as an excuse to have his hands all over my bulging stomach and lower abdomen. As if he would be able to feel the heir's small feet right below my hip bone. But at least, thanks to Barty's interference, his wrinkled hands only moved below the band of my briefs for a second before they reluctantly moved back to my stomach.

Valentine's Day was also not a happy day for me. In the previous months, Dumbledore and the Ministry had kept Tom so busy during the days that he was not in the mood for anything more than eat dinner, see to his correspondence and then go straight to sleep. While the lack of a sex life hadn't bother me before, not having felt in the mood anyway, with my last trimester approaching in February, my hormone crazed body suddenly wanted nothing more than to push down my husband and ride his hard penis.

Well aware that his responsibilities had kept him away from me far more than he liked but unable to do anything about it on a day to day basis, Tom had deliberately cleared his schedule for Valentine's Day, having worked more than his usual extra hours during the previous week so that we could have this day free just for us. And while I feared that Dumbledore would find a way to ruin the day, it was not him that kidnapped Tom from our bed before the sun had been even up for an hour.

No, Fenrir Greyback had decided that Valentine's Day would be the perfect day to demonstrate that he and his wolf pack was not as defeated as the Wizarding world had believed them to be after Tom's unrelenting attack on them during my seventh year at Hogwarts. Needless to say, that from that day onwards, I was lucky to still be awake when Tom came home and did not see my husband at all when I woke up in the mornings.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday, 5th May 1999**

Despite my fears, Barty was at least able to let me keep my underwear on during all following check-ups where Dumbledore and his ducklings were present. But apparently Dumbledore could not be satisfied before he had taken his fill of my whole body.

So, when my labour pains started in the night between the fourth and fifth May, Barty who had been staying in Slytherin Manor for the last two weeks, was forced to inform the Ministry about the approaching birth of the heir. With a sweet kiss to my lips and an encouraging hug, Tom sent me with Barty on my way to St Mungo's.

"Won't you come with me?" I asked, fearing what was about to come.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Tom said, hugging me close to his side. "I've tried, but neither Dumbledore nor the Ministry will abandon paragraph _**§4-2**_."

I was scared and frightened when Barty informed me that paragraph _**§4-2**_. stated that besides him only one Ministry official was allowed to be present in the room when I gave birth. I was in pain, started to sweat like mad and wanted nothing more than to have Tom, or better yet my mother who knew what giving birth was like with me. Even Draco, with his surely sarcastic remarks would have been than the official the Ministry had sent to verify that the baby was the legal heir. But alas, I was forced to Floo with only Barty as my company to St Mungo's.

I do not know why I was surprised when the door opened and in stepped Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. As if the physical pain from the contractions was not enough to endure, I now had to also endure emotion torture on top of it.

"Harry," Barty said, demanding my attention. "I need you to take off your clothes so that I can prepare you for the birth."

"Must―" I began to ask, but was interrupted as a contraction stronger than the ones before it started. Placing a hand around my hips and his other around my shoulder, Crouch Jr. led me towards the birthing chair. But even through the pain, I did not fail to notice how Dumbledore moved his transfigured chair so that he would have the perfect view of my spread open legs.

Barty did not even wait for the contraction to be over, before he positioned me on the chair the way he wanted: my head resting on the pillow and my legs spread wide apart on the ledgers. But he was not the most impatient man in the room. That title clearly belonged to Dumbledore. Crouch Jr. had only opened the first button of my shirt, when Dumbledore pointed his wand at me and vanished all of my clothes.

Grumbling under his breath, Barty moved towards the cabinet to get me one of the paper hospital gown. But even after I had put my hands through the sleeves, I did not feel anymore covered than before, especially since Barty had moved the gown up, so that anything below my navel was still exposed to the room.

"Ahh!" I cried when the next contraction overcame me. But instead of speaking comforting words, Crouch adjusted the birthing chair so that my exposed genitals were at eye-level when he sat down on the chair between my open legs.

Asking Dumbledore to hold a small bowl, I had to crane my neck to see that he was putting shaving foam on my pubic hair. "Standard procedure," Barty said, before I could even ask why he was doing it. Once he was finished, he picked up a razor and began to shave off the hair. I hated how I had to endure Crouch touching my most private body partsy, moving my penis and testicles out of the razor's way.

"Ah, Barty, I think you missed some of the hair just below Harry's balls," Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, making me shiver in disgust.

"I'm finished. Now we just have to wait for the lad to come out," Barty announced, the new contraction making me miss how a word like 'lad' would never have been used by someone as young as Crouch Jr.

"Should there not be some more important preparations?" I asked once I recovered from the pain.

"What do you think Barty has forgotten?" Dumbledore asked, his voice sounding politely interested but his eyes gleaming gave away his true feeling: amusement.

"Lubrication? Stretching?" I asked, not amused at all about my current situation.

"You're a Foreas, Harry," Dumbledore answered, like it answered everything. When I just sent him a dark stare, he felt compelled to add, "You're body is made for bearing children and does not need more preparation than a woman."

When I looked inquiringly at Barty, fully expecting him to tell Dumbledore off and inform the stupid old fool that as a Foreas I needed lubrication and stretching to not tear any internal tissues, he let my down when he dryly commented, "It's always best to let nature take its course."

"But I need lubrication," I cried out, sitting up. I could feel how I was getting desperate, my emotions running high and tears ready to spill down my faces.

"Calm down," Barty said harshly. "If you cannot get yourself under control, I'll have to restrain you," he threatened.

I looked at Dumbledore with bleeding eyes. I could hardly believe that I was so desperate for a proper lubrication and stretching that I hoped that his perverted fascination with my body would be tempting enough for him to offer to lubricate me with his bare hands, just so that he could touch my most private area. _Surely the academic in him would also low to explore my Foreas opening?_ I hoped.

But neither Dumbledore, nor anyone else decided to hear my plea and I resigned myself to the fact that I would be going through the birth without my body being properly prepared. As I lay there, sobbing because of my hopeless situation and the pain I knew I was going to experience, my magic reacted to my feelings. With a burst of accidental magic, I felt my body changing. My intestine was pushed together and further towards my back and my bladder was also moved out of the way to create some space inside my body for a birthing channel.

"Ah, magic at work," Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes, leaning forward in his chair to get a better look, making me scramble back as much as I could in the confined space of the birthing chair. "Barty, I'm sure you understand that my obligation to the Ministry demands that I make sure that no foul-play is involved," he stated, making me unsuccessfully try to move even farther away from Dumbledore's reach. I really did not want him to closer inspect what just happened, fearing that he would find a way to reverse the effect of my accidental magic.

With a nod, Barty got up from his chair in front of me and offered his seat to Dumbledore. "No," I said, not the least agreeable with what Dumbledore planned to do.

"Harry," Barty just said in a calm voice, shaking his head. His eyes said that if I did not comply quietly, Dumbledore would use force to get his way and I would like that outcome even less. The wand that Dumbledore threateningly pointed in my direction only emphasised what Barty's eyes communicated to me.

Biting my lips to stop my sobs from leaving my lips and being heard by them, I grudgingly allowed Dumbledore to put on a glow and to insert his index and middle fingers into the hole my magic had created, while his other, unglowed hand held up my penis. I closed my eyes to not have to witness the joy Dumbledore was emitting from finally having found a good excuse to touch my genitals.

"Hmm," the old man hummed, as he moved his prodding fingers around the newly created opening, scissoring them to see how loose it was. When he pulled them out, I saw with relief that he was rubbing some form of lubrication between his index finger and thumb. _At least my magic knows what I need,_ I thought, finally able to relax somewhat.

"I wonder," Dumbledore mumbled, before he forcefully pushed the same two fingers into my now very tight puckered hole.

"Argh!" The sound ripped from my mouth and blood ran down my bit-open lip as Dumbledore drilled his way towards my prostate and from there searched his way towards my Foreas opening. When he found it after a minute of 'inadvertently' stimulating my prostrate, he tried to stick his index finger inside. Thankfully he was stop from going in far by a barrier.

"I cannot find any fool-play, but it seems like the heir will have to come out of the new opening," Dumbledore stated as he finally stood up from the chair and retook his seat in the armchair.

"Good," Barty said, sitting back down. "We just have to wait for the contractions to become stronger before we can start with the birthing process."

It took nearly five hours of lying on the birthing chair, panting through the steadily stronger and longer contractions, fighting against sleep claiming me and recovering my strength from the burst of unexpected magic while at the same time unsuccessfully trying to forget the humiliating position I was in, before Barty allowed me to start pushing.

Twenty-three minutes of pushing, screaming out in pain as I felt my new birthing channel being stretched to its limits before my son made his way out and saw the light of day at four seventeen in the morning.

_Finally I'm be able to see my family again,_ was the first thought I had when I heard my newborn son make his first cry. _Finally, I can hug the people I love instead of just reading their letters and crying over how much I miss seeing them face to face. Finally being able to speak freely without the fear that someone was scanning the letters for sensitive information before I received them. "Damned paragraph_ _ **§2-4**_ _,"_ I cursed the reason for my nine-month long isolation, using all of my remaining strength to hit the armrest.

To not be caged in Slytherin Manor with only myself for company. I had so rarely seen Tom and Bellatrix even with her Healer status in the last months that the few times I interacted with them were not enough to let me forget me isolation. And Barthy, Dumbledore and the rest of the ministry officials did not count.

_To be once again able to do what I want and interact with the rest of the world. To see Nagini and Nagian again,_ I thought crying. I missed the snakes so much, but as the Ministry declared them too dangerous for me to be around, I'd been banned from even seeing my non-human family members.

While I was lost in my thoughts, thinking about all the things I had to sacrifice and give up during my pregnancy, Barty cleaned up my son with Dumbledore watching over him like a hawk. Once he was finished, Dumbledore held out his greedy hands to take my child into his arms.

"Alright, Harry?" Crouch finally asked me, not having bothered with my well-being during the last hours.

"I'm totally exhausted and sore," I admitted.

"I have just the right thing for you," he answered, picking up a bluish potion from the table where Dumbledore stood with my child. "This is a healing potion mixed with a pain reliever."

If the whole birthing process had not taken me to my limits, I, as Severus' godson, should have known better than to not get suspicious when besides the minty smell of the pain reliever and the usual bitter taste of healing potion, I also tasted something sweet.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Thinking back, I cannot believe that one check-up per month was enough for me to lose the complete trust I had in Tom. To think, that I came up with stupid arguments like 'What if Dumbledore breaks through Tom's Occlumency shields?' to find an excuse to not tell him that our child had started kicking me. But then, Tom, who I believed could do anything, had not been able to get the Ministry to allow me to at least see my family during the Christmas holidays.

I don't know what would have changed if we had known that Barty Crouch Jr. was in truth none other than Mad-Eye Moody disguised with Polyjuice Potion. But as it was, we were all unaware that my health and with it my future lay in the hands of an imposter. An imposter that was working for Albus Dumbledore to ensure that in the end the 'Greater Good' would be victorious.

If I'd only been able to get just one vial of the anti-nausea potion to Serverus for examination, he would have been able to tell me that the reason why Barty's potion stopped me from throwing up was that it turned the food I ate into water so that there was nothing to throw up in my stomach. Even having been more suspicious about the unusual sweet taste of the potion Crouch Jr. gave me after the birth could have changed the course my life took.

Oh why does Fate have to be so cruel and deny me the chance to out Barty Crouch Jr. as a trickster? Maybe then Tom could have stopped Dumbledore from exploiting the old laws to his twisted heart's content.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** One more chapter until we will probably reach the end of the tragedy arc, so please leave a review and get some tissues ready.


	16. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue. Additionally, the quote at the beginning of the chapter is made up and not part of the HP universe.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** lemon

**AN:** This is the second to last chapter of the tragedy arc. The last chapter and the interlude will both be posted during the next 4 weeks.

* * *

**Since my readers asked about it, here a short explanation about the old laws and Dumbledore:  
**

The reason why Tom was so helpless against the Ministry/ the old laws in this arc will be explained in chapter 3-6(?) of the HEA arc. Mainly is has something to do with Tom needing about 1 year to revoke the laws and the process must be finished before they are used on Harry. With Dumbledore springing them on them just 1 month before the wedding, he does not have enough time to stop the process before it is too late.

Dumbledore is so obsessed with Harry because he like Severus heard the first part of the prophecy (and also the other half from his sister's portrait) and thus, he knows that Harry is the key for Tom's continued reign. As he wants to overthrow Tom's reign, he knows that he needs to somehow separate Harry and Tom to achieve this goal.  
If you remember the chapters of Harry's pre-Hogwarts time, you see that Dumbledore at first tried to get Harry on his side (Introducton to society parties, getting him Hedwig) as Harry was said to be Tom's equal. But when he noticed that Harry was firmly staying on Tom's side, he changed his plans and now plans Harry's and Tom's downfall. It will become more obvious in the next chapter when you learn the full prophesy.

With this out of the way, let's begin with the final chapter of the tragedy arc:

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **1** **4** **-~-~-**

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?

(Rose Kennedy, American philanthropist and socialite)

What can I say about the last three months of my life? Certainly not that I spent a lot of time with my son. I can actually count the number of days I saw my son on one hand. And not many more were the days where I can truly claim to have been completely happy. But then, Dumbledore had already ensured during the birth of my child that my final months would be far from easy and Barty, aka Moody, was doing his best to help the old fool along with his plans. Ensuring that I would spend my days worrying about the what ifs instead of enjoying the freedom I was getting back bit by bit.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Thursday, 6th May 1999, Slytherin Manor**

It was the day after I gave birth and once again I had been forced back into my golden cage of isolation in Slytherin Manor. One would think that now that the Wizarding World and with it the Ministry finally had their heir, I would finally regain my freedom. At least that was what I had been thinking when I was laying in the maternity room in St. Mungo's the day before.

But as I was so nicely informed by Dumbledore, the old laws were still to rule my life for the next weeks. Paragrah **§** **5-2** was very specific when it came to what I was allowed or not allowed to do during my few weeks of childbed. Essentially **§5-** **2a)** stated that for a Foreas, the childbed would last eight weeks and was to be carried out in isolation. Paragraph **§5-2** **b)** restricted the number of my visitors to Ministry officials, Tom and my pregnancy Healer.

Or in short, I had to wait for eight more weeks before I could finally see my family and friends again. As if I was not already far too good acquainted with my rooms in Slytherin manor.

Of course, there was also paragraph **§ 5-1.** This paragraph was all about Lord Slytherin's heir. It clearly stated that as a Foreas I would not spend any unnecessary amount of time with the heir. If I had been female, I would have been allowed to see my son daily during the breastfeedings. But alas, I did not have boobs that were producing milk and thus someone else was given the task to feed the heir with mother's milk.

During the times where I was sitting all alone in the living room, I was usually happy that I would not be seeing my son face to face. While deep down I knew that it was not his fault, I still held my son responsible for all the destitutions I had to go through during my pregnancy and was even still facing. Add to it that whenever I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I saw all the body fat I'd gained during my dreadful pregnancy. In the end, you get a father that had no love left for his own child.

I even had to pretend to be happy whenever Tom told me about how lovely our son was. That he had my beautiful green eyes but Tom's nose and lips. That there was not anything cuter than when our son was sucking on Tom's little finger. Whatever it was he told me about our son, I just forced the corners of my mouth to lift up and to make an agreeing hum.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Tuesday, 18th May 1999**

Not even two weeks had passed since I gave birth to our child, or as everyone else called it, Tom's heir, and Tom was already consulting with Barty in his study as to when he could sleep with me again. Not because he was a horny bastard, but simply because he wanted to finally be able to make love to me without anyone interrupting us. To finally give me the wedding night I deserved without having to worry about any spying contraptions and rushing to dress before Dumbledore entered the room instead of enjoying a round of lazy morning sex.

"Of course you can, my Lord," Barty answered. "Harry is a man, not a weak woman who needs three months of bed rest before they can have sex again. Since he is a Foreas, I would actually advise it, especially since your wedding night was not the most enjoyable," he answered in a sympathetic voice.

And while Tom assumed that Barty meant Dumbledore and his friends who killed the mood, Moody was actually referring to the lack of blood he found on the bedsheets. In his eyes, sex can only be good if there is tearing and blood involved.

"There will be no negative side-effects for him?" Tom asked, as usual worried about my well-being.

"No, my Lord. With a Foreas naturally only becoming fertile two to three months after their last pregnancy, you do not even need to worry about protection," the fake Barty told him. _When a fertility potion is added though…_ he trailed off in his mind, very happy that he did not need to talk Tom into sleeping with me. He could already imagine Albus' overjoyed face when he heard that I was as good as pregnant again. They would just need to wait until I showed the first pregnancy symptoms before they could publicly voice their suspicions and get me right back under the control of the old laws.

But neither Tom nor I were aware of Dumbledore's plan and the fertility potion I consumed after I gave birth when my husband surprised me with a romantic dinner that evening to celebrate the last of my check-ups.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"To finally being rid of the Healer check-ups," I said as I lifted my glass in toast.

"Only six more weeks and we'll finally be rid of the old laws," Tom added, lifting his own glass.

"I cannot wait," I said excitedly as I clinked my glass to his. While I was still trapped in our rooms, for the first time in months I felt happy. If I closed my eyes, it would be easy to imagine that we were back in India, enjoying a lovely evening together.

And what a lovely evening it turned out to be. No words of our son were mentioned that night. Dumbledore's name was not even thought of. Instead, we talked about us. We talked bout the two fantastic vacations we spend in India and how much fun I had during my seventeenth birthday party in the waterpark. In short, it felt like the previous year had been erased from our memory. Like the last months had never taken place at all. Like it was just a nightmare I finally have woken up from.

As the night progressed, Tom led me out of the dining room and into our bedroom. Once there, I immediately fell into my husband's arms, kissing my way down his throat in thanks for the work he put into transforming our bedroom into an Indian dream without me noticing a thing.

On the ground closest to the door lay a mountain of yellow, pink and orange pillows. Next to it was a small table with drinks and food from which a candlelit path led towards the bed. I do not know if Tom transfigured our bed or replaced it by a new one, but the round bed with its ornamented orange and red bed canopy looked like it was taken out of a fairytale palace.

"That's...so beautiful," I whispered into his neck before I worked my way up his jaw to his lips, pressing sweet kisses everywhere I could reach.

"I'm glad you like it," he told me and guided me towards the pillows where he pushed me down so that I was laying on my back, my head and shoulders raised slightly by the pillows behind me.

"I really missed you, Harry," Tom whispered huskily into my ear as he laid down on top of me, taking care to not let our bodies touch. "Merlin...you cannot imagine...how happy I am...to finally have...some time for us," he told me between kisses, my own mind screaming in agreement to his words as my body experienced pleasure from his touches.

Tortuously slowly Tom's lips moved from my now swollen lips down my throat until they lingered at my collarbone to give me a love bite that would stay for the next three days. Needing Tom to do more, needing him to touch me with more than just his lips, I painfully grabbed his hair and tugged on his dark locks as I begged, "More, Tom."

"Shh, Harry. Come morning you will have more love bites than you can count," he promised as he moved his head to better reach the column of my throat where he started on the second hickey of the night.

"Tommm!" I wailed in a mix of pleasure and frustration.

And only when he was satisfied with my new mark, did Tom chuckle before he finally moved his weight onto one arm so that the other hand was free to touch my body. It unhurriedly trailed an imaginary path down from my temples over my neck towards my right nipple, which was soon ignored in favour of drawing circles on my not-so-flat-anymore stomach.

"I love you, Harry," Tom proclaimed before he kissed me possessively. I eagerly kissed him back, trying to convey my love for him into the kiss while I submitted to his dominance.

"I love you too," I told him once his lips finally released me from the kiss.

"I know," he answered self-confidently as he recaptured my lips and silently vanished most of my clothes, my boxers the only article of clothing that remained.

"Hmm, much better," he stated before his free hand and mouth explored my exposed chest, tweaking my nipples and leaving yet another hickey just above my right hipbone. I could do nothing more than to grab his hair with more force as I unsuccessfully tried to suppress the moans of pleasure from escaping from between my lips while my boxer-glad erection became more and more pronounced as the minutes passed by.

"Tom," I moaned as his fingers teasingly caressed my erection.

"Shh, Harry," he chided. "I will take care of it soon enough. But first..." he trailed of as he sat up into a kneeling position between my legs. He spread them wide and with a whispered spell vanished the rest of our remaining clothing.

Similar to our wedding night, Tom took great care to prepare me properly. Using plenty of lube and taking his sweat time to stretch out my channel for what was to enter. And while this was not the first time that Tom had seen me like this, I still could feel how my cheeks heated up and turned a deep red from both embarrassment of my exposure and the lust I felt from taking in my husband's very arousing naked body.

"Ready?" Tom asked, once he deemed me prepared enough.

I nodded in agreement, but just as Tom was about to enter me, I screeched in sheer panic, "WE NEED PROTECTION!" _I could not get pregnant again,_ I screamed fearfully inside my mind. _Not now when_ _I'm finally close to be_ _ing_ _free again,_ I thought, my body beginning to shake madly.

"Hush, Harry," Tom said to me in a soothing voice, caressing my face and kissing my nose as he cradled my body close to his. "Because of your pregnancy, protection will not be necessary for at least another two months."

"Are you sure?" I asked in a weak voice, my body still shacking from my panic attack.

"Yes," he answered with so much conviction that I had to trust his words.

"Okay," I nodded, trying to get my body to relax once again as Tom laid my body back down on the pillows, kissing me until I again was putty in his hands.

And then, like I was made of brittle glass, Tom ever so slowly entered me, pausing after every inch to give me time to adjust to the intrusion.

We kissed, whispered "I love you" and other sweet things into each other's ear as our bodies joined in the old slow dance of love, letting our hands lazily wander over the other's body as a warm feeling slowly spread from our stomachs to our chests and up to our toes. And when, after what felt like hours, our bodies finally exploded and let go, I once again felt the tingling sensation in my stomach that I'd felt during our wedding night.

_No, this can't mean that I am pregnant,_ I desperately pleaded. _Tom said that I cannot get pregnant for another two months. This tingl_ _e_ _must just be a sensation that is created by the love we feel for each other,_ I told myself.

_I can trust Tom, can't I?_ a nicking voice asked in my head. _He said that I_ _can_ _no_ _t_ _get_ _pregnant_ _for another two months,_ I repeated his words like a lifeline, trying not to panic again as Tom let himself fall down on the pillows beside me and cradled me onto his chest.

While Tom just lay there and waited for his body to relax from our previous activity, I spent the time trying to calm down my racing heart and head, hoping that Tom did not notice that I was near to having my second anxiety attack of the night.

"Do you want something to drink?" Tom asked me. I meekly nodded against his chest, not yet trusting my voice to be steady enough to speak without him becoming suspicious.

I smiled in thanks as Tom handed me a glass of my favourite Indian drink, Falooda. I emptied half of the glass before I felt calm enough to finally speak.

"I cannot thank you enough for tonight," I said, truly grateful for all the work Tom had done to create this Indian dream for us.

"It was my pleasure," Tom answered with a wink. "And the night is not over yet," he added, pointedly looking at the still pristinely made bed.

"And here I thought that I was the randy teenager," I joked.

"Behave," Tom warned.

"And if I don't?" I asked, challenging. "Will you spank me?"

"Maybe," he said with the little smirk of his that I found irresistible. "Though I'd rather reward you."

"Oh, and what would that reward be?" I asked, hoping that my voice sounded as seductive as I wanted it to be as I crawled into Tom's lap.

"I thought, after everything you had to go through during the last months, that you would like the chance to dominate me for a change," he offered.

Purposefully ignoring the first part, not wanting to be reminded of the last months, I focused my whole attention to the second half of his sentence. "You would let me do with you as I please?" I asked, barely believing that someone like Tom, the current Lord Slytherin, would willingly submit to anyone.

"With the exception of bottoming, yes."

I just kissed him before I got up from his lap and led him towards the bed, Tom laughing in amusement from my display of eagerness. I did not care. It was not every day that Tom allowed me to explore his body as I pleased and I could not wait to finally live out one or two of my fantasies.

Zealously I pushed my husband down on the bed, being very glad that the two of us were already naked. I did not think that I would have had the patient to slowly undress him. Just the thought that tonight, I would be the dominant one had me already semi-erect.

Still laughing, Tom lay down on his back in the middle of the bed, his arms crossed behind his head, giving me a questioning and at the same time daring gaze. _Just you wait,_ I thought already going through several ways with which I could sexually torture and frustrate him.

"Turn around," I commanded, giving Tom an angry glare when he answered with a mocking "As you wish," as he did as I asked. I did not know if I should be amused or frustrated when he again assumed a relaxed position with his arms crossed under his head.

_At least he is still doing what I want,_ I thought, while I tried to decide if I should start from Tom's neck and work on giving him back every love bite he gave me tonight, or if I should start from his feet and slowly work my way up.

"I'm waiting," Tom called out, stopping my musing. Sometimes, I really hated how self-assured he was even when he currently was supposed to be the submissive. But then, most of the time, exactly this self-confidence was part of what attracted me to him.

Gathering myself, I answered in a voice barely loud enough for him to hear, "And you'll be waiting some more tonight," before I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his right shoulder blade. From there I slowly kissed my way down his strong back, kissing, sucking and kneading his firm ass cheeks before I tried to find the sensitive spot on his inner thigh and ended my trip down Tom's body with sucking on his toes.

When I released his last toe from my mouth, Tom cheekily asked, "Shall I turn around now?"

"No," I answered, decidedly. "I'm not done with your back yet." This was all the warning he got before I leaned down again and thoroughly explored his pucker hole with my tongue, enjoying how I finally made him squirm on the mattress.

When I replaced my tongue with a saliva coated finger, Tom stiffened under me, lifting his head from his folded arms and let out a warning, "Harry!"

"Shh," I said calmly. "I won't use more than two fingers." Pacified, Tom leaned back down and enjoyed the ministration as I took my time to explore his body, fascinated by the differences between our bodies, chiefly the lack of a Foreas opening above his prostate.

As we lay in bed, Tom softly moaning in pleasure from my touches, kisses and caresses, I felt a pleasant warm feeling spreading all over my body. _Is this what Tom feels every time I submit to hi_ _m_ _?_ I wondered. It was so different, but at the same time also as perfect with a similar feeling of being loved, as when I was the one at the receiving end. There, the feeling was more physically induced by Tom's touches, while now it was leaning more towards the emotional sensation I got from watching Tom's enjoyment and pleasure from my touches.

Only when I felt Tom's back muscles arching upwards, did I stop what I was doing, purposefully denying Tom the completion he craved. "Harry," he complained, his voice strained and husky.

"I promised you that you would be waiting for a while tonight," I said teasingly. My resolve shaking when our eyes met, and I saw the raw lust and love in his dark brown eyes and his red-flushed face. _You won't get another chance as good as this at teasing him,_ I reminded myself, hardening my resolve to only let Tom come when he was inside me. "Turn around," I said, my mouth watering in anticipation of seeing Tom's erect cock.

"Only if you finish what you started," he said challengingly, his dominating nature showing clearly.

"I will," I promised. _Just not yet,_ I added in the privacy of my mind as I watched with eager eyes how Tom turned around to lie on his back.

"Will you cast the lubrication charm?" I asked and was surprised how quick I found myself lubricated. Tom was obviously eager to finish what I started. Climbing on his lap, I placed my hands on his stomach to support my weigh as I slowly lowered myself on his erection, already loose from our previous round of lovemaking. I enjoyed watching through lidded eyes how Tom had to stop himself from coming right then and there.

When I finally adjusted to having Tom once again inside me, I clenched my stomach muscles. This led to Tom bucking his hips up, needing to finally thrust into me. Not wanting Tom to come just yet, I pressed his body down with the hands I had on his stomach and shook my head. "Soon."

Satisfied with his compliance, I leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, not minding that, like usual, Tom dominated the kiss. Separating our lips, I moved to Tom's neck to give him at least one hickey of my own, to mark him as mine in turn. And only when I was satisfied with the mark did I sit up and begin to ride Tom, the position atop of him allowing me to play with his nipples to my hearts content.

_This is better than the fantasy I had,_ I thought happily as I rhythmically moved up and down. It did not take long for both of us to reach the breaking point, our cum sprouting out of us as we enjoyed the night's grand final. Exhaustedly I let myself fall down on top of my husband, whispering a tired, "I love you," into his neck as he engulfed me in the protection of his arms and returned my sentiment.

And while I really enjoyed the change in control and how it felt to be the one who set the rhythm, as we lay there and enjoyed the afterglow, I could not help myself but to feel uneasy when I had not felt the tingling sensation in my stomach when we both came for the second time that night. It made me wonder if I, against Tom's proclamation, in the end had once again become pregnant. My heart did not want to doubt Tom, but my head and the fear of what a second pregnancy would mean for me did not want to go away until my exhaustion forced me into the land of dreams.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Thursday, 1st July 1999**

I could not describe how happy and overjoyed I was when I finally, after months of forced isolation could finally hug my family and friends again. During the last few weeks I had been beside myself. Every evening I critically inspected my stomach, always searching for a sign that I was with child again. And each new morning I was nervous and anxious to wake up because I feared it would bring the nausea of morning sickness.

And while I had been spared from worshipping the porcelain god and my stomach had actually begun to flatten again, it was only now, when my family and friends were surrounding me that I could finally forget for one day the threat of a new pregnancy hanging over my head.

"Oh, Harry," my mother called out as she entered the room with my father hot on her heels.

"Mum," I answered, overcome by emotions as I started to cry in her warm and comforting embrace. "Dad," I choked out as my father joined the hug and ruffled my hair that was so similar to his own unruly nest.

"We missed you so much, Deary," Mum told me as Dad hummed in agreement and all I could do was to cry more.

When I had finally gotten the tears to stop falling, Sirius and Remus entered the room and my eyes were filled with wetness once more as they too joined the group hug. Tom, on the other hand, did not join us, instead he decided to stay by the windows. He did not move during the next visitor filled hours where I greeted with a watery smile Severus, Draco and his parents, Bellatrix with her husband and brother-in-law, the Weasley twins, Neville, Luna and Hermione.

As the hour passed by, I finally stopped crying and just enjoyed to listen to their stories, not having much to tell myself. It was already late in the afternoon, when they one by one said their goodbyes until Draco and I were the only ones left.

"I know you, Harry. You're not happy, are you?" Draco asked, obviously worried about me.

I signed. "It's complicated," I finally said, leaning back in my armchair. "Am I happy that I'm married to Tom? Yes," I told Draco truthfully. "Am I happy that I married Lord Slytherin? Definitely not."

"I would have married you, if it would have saved you from this pain," Draco said, taking my hand in his.

"I know," I answered, squeezing his hand in thanks and acknowledgement. "But we both know that that would have never have happened. Being engaged to Tom since birth, for one," I said with a smile. After a short pause I added, "And there is still the fact that we do not love each other like I love Tom."

"No," Draco said laughing. "We certainly have no romantic feelings for each other. Besides, I would rather have sex with Astoria than with you."

I just stuck out my tongue in answer, happy that we could end this depressing topic in a good mood before Draco had to leave me for the day. The two of us already agreed on me visiting him tomorrow.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

Unbeknown to me, Tom had just wanted to knock on the slightly opened door, when he heard me speak. "Am I happy that I married Lord Slytherin? Definitely not." Intrigued and also sad and angry to hear me speak like that about our marriage, he halted his hand and instead cast a charm to better hear what was said inside our living room.

"I would have married you, if it would have saved you from this pain," he heard Draco say and watched with jealousy as Draco took my hand in his.

"I know," I answered, and Tom's eyes became small slots as I squeezed the blond's hand in thanks and acknowledgement. "But we both know that that would have never have happened. Being engaged to Tom since birth, for one."

This was the last straw. Tom could not hear any more and stormed away in anger and self-hatred towards his study. How often had he worried that the age gap between us was too large. That I would have preferred to marry someone who was closer to my own age. Someone just like my best friend.

And while I was happy that my father had agreed to Tom's offer of marriage, Tom only heard that I had no say in the matter. That I would not have wanted to marry him if I had had the choice.

As Tom walked circle after circle in front of his desk, he became more and more worked up. He compared himself with Draco. Blinded in self-hatred and self-doubt, he found fault after fault with himself until he reached the conclusion that I indeed would have been better off with Draco as my husband. This conclusion in turn made him think of every thing he made wrong in becoming my husband and with every item he thought of, the list grew more and more ridiculous. But love and with it jealousy were never known to lead to rational thoughts.

And so, fifty minutes after he overheard my talk with Draco, Tom had talked himself into a state of illogical jealousy that he could not remain mute about it any longer and stormed back to where he last saw me.

"You would have liked to marry Draco wouldn't you?" he asked me rhetorically, his voice full of anger. His magic had threw open the living room door with a bang and I could do nothing more than to numbly stare at his enraged and wild face as he approached me with determined steps. "Oh yes, I'm sure you would have loved to have the Malfoy crest on your breast rather than mine. Would have done the both of us a favour if you'd married Draco. For all I know you two are already fucking behind my back," he yelled at me.

Still in shock, I could not even open my mouth to deny his totally hilarious accusation. Tom seemed to interpret my stillness as agreement to his accusation.

"You know what," Tom said, his voice wavering as he tried to calm himself. "As your Lord and husband, I forbid you from seeing Draco."

"But..." I stammered.

"No buts. You'll do as I say," he commanded, before he stormed out of the room as fast and as suddenly as he had entered. His magic kicking the doors open and then closed with a loud bang.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

If I had known that Tom had been listening in to my conversation with Draco in the most inauspicious moment and had interpreted what I said out of context in the most horrible way possible, the row we had that night could have been avoided. But alas, we had the row that night and with it the ditch of mistrust between us grew so large that I saw no other alternative to my actions at the end of July 1999. But this is a story for another day...

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** If you haven't noticed already, the end of this chapter already hints why this story is named "Verbuar-blinded". In this arc, it partly has to do with Tom being blinded by jealousy and self-doubt.


	17. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue. Additionally, the quote at the beginning of the chapter is made up and not part of the HP universe.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** temporary Character Death

**AN:** This is the end of the tragedy arc. To lessen the negative impact, the next chapter, aka **the interlude to the HEA arc will be posted in 1 week** , so stay tuned as it will finally reveal the **full Prophesy**!

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **1** **5** **-~-~-**

"The road to hell is paved with Dumbledore's good intentions and his belief in the 'Greater Good'."

Severus Snape during my nineteenth birthday party on the 31st July 1999, shortly after 11pm.

What can I say about the last month of my life? Only one thing: I was worried sick from the horrible truth that I was once again with child. The fact that nobody besides Draco, Bella and I knew about it did not matter. All I could think of was that I would be once again forced to endure the 'Health check-ups' as I returned to my cage of utter insulation inside Slytherin manor.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Friday, 2nd July 1999**

I cannot describe how happy I felt to finally hear Nagini and Nagijan bickering with each other again and to feel Nagijan's comfortable weight on my shoulders as I woke up in the morning. But the snakes were no replacement for my best friend. I could not even put my anger towards Tom into words. _How could he think that I had had an affair with Draco?_ And to think that he had the audacity to forbid me from seeing Draco. _As if I would do as he commands,_ I thought with a huff as I got dressed to Floo to Malfoy manor.

But when I reached the entrance hall, I painfullydiscovered that my restriction from Draco was not the worst of the new rules. No, the worst was the blocked off Floo and Anti-Disapparation Wards that kept even me locked inside Slytherin manor. I could not believe that, in his totally unfounded jealousy, he had gone so far as to lock me inside the manor when today was supposed to be my second day in freedom.

When I stormed into his study to confront him, he told me in a cold voice that his actions were perfectly reasonable, seeing as I had tried to go against his words and see Draco anyways. He even told me with a cruel smile that he already informed Draco that he was no longer welcome at Slytherin manor.

" _That bastard,"_ I hissed as I walked in angry circles around our bedroom, Nagijan following my movements with his ever-watchful and concerned eyes from the rug. But my anger at the lost freedom only lasted until I was overcome by nausea and made a run for the bathroom. _Merlin fucking g_ _reat,_ I thought even more annoyed. While this could be just a stomach bug, my intuition and also my fear of a second pregnancy left me without a doubt in my mind that this was my all-day-long morning sickness making its first reappearance. And even after I emptied everything that was in my stomach and only the bile remained, I still knelt in front of the toilet, shivering, hiccuping and very close to hyperventilating.

" _Harry!_ " a panicked Nagijan suddenly hissed from my side, having become worried when I did not return from the bathroom after twenty minutes passed.

" _I'm...fine,"_ I shakingly hissed back.

" _You're not,"_ he determinedly answered. _"I'll get Tom."_ Nagijan turned to leave the room.

" _NO!"_ I yelled, panicked. Tom was the last person I wanted to see right now.

" _But he can help you,"_ Nagijan tried to reason.

" _Tom, help me?"_ I asked rhetorically. _"It's HIS bloody fault that I'm like this!"_ I screamed from my slumped position on the cold floor.

_No, Harry, you cannot get pregnant for two more months,_ I mockingly repeated his words from weeks ago in my mind as I slowly got up and walked to the sink to clean myself up. Gingerly, I made my way back on weak legs towards the bedroom, where I crawled under the sheets in the hope that the next time I woke up the last twenty four hours would turn out to just have been a very, very bad dream.

My wish was not granted. When I woke up around mid-afternoon, I once again made a dash for the bathroom, a concerned Nagijan following after me.

Opposed to the last time, got up from the floor right away. _Maybe_ _the sleep help_ _ed_ _me to progress the fact that I_ _am_ _pregnant again_ _and prevents me from having another meltdown?_ I wondered briefly.

" _This cannot go on,"_ Nagijan stated as he followed me back to the bedroom.

" _Don't worry, it will go away soon enough,"_ I answered. _At least I_ _reckon_ _to remember that Bella said that the morning sickness will lessen with the second pregnancy._

" _Are you sure that I should not tell Tom about it?"_ he asked for the second time that day.

" _Yes,"_ I stated firmly before I called for a house-elf to bring me some ginger tea. _At least this time I_ _already_ _know what help_ _s_ _the morning sickness,_ I thought with a grimace.

" _As you wish,"_ Nagijan answered after a moment of contemplation.

Thanking the house-elf for the tea, I slowly sipped on it, tears running down my eyes.

The first sign of pregnancy, the row with Tom and his hilarious accusation of I having an affair with Draco and most of all the horrible realisation that I was confined to the manor once again when I was supposed to finally be free, were all heavily weighing on my mind and heart. One of these things alone would have been enough to destroy my spirit. But with all three of them happening to me at the same time I was wondering how my heart could still be beating with how painful it contracted in my chest. And with how much I was crying and sopping, I wondered how I was even still able to breath. How was I still able to function when all I felt was pain, hurt and betrayal?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Monday, 5th July 1999**

As it turned out, Tom was not the only person who betrayed me. Nagijan had only kept his promise of silence for three days. When I was still regularly throwing up, shaking and crying on Monday, he and Nagini went to Tom. Because they had not been allowed near me during my first pregnancy, they did not know that the vomiting was simply a symptom of pregnancy and thus nothing to be overly worried about.

But in their ignorance they instead told Tom that I was not feeling well, crying and barely leaving my bed. Coupled with Nagjian repeating to Tom that I more than once said that it was Tom's bloody fault that I was like this, the only conclusion Tom came to was that I was currently suffering a spell of depression because I could not see my 'lover,' Draco. That I could be otherwise ill, or that I was depressed because I was again locked inside Slytherin manor for the incalculable future did not even cross his jealousy infested mind.

After our snakes left the study, Tom remained seated in his chair and thought. By sundown, he finally made a decision. It hurt him to know that I was not feeling well. It hurt him even more to know that I blamed him for my current state of unhappiness. So with a heavy heart, he made a painful decision. He would allow Draco back into my life, even if it meant that he would probably lose me for good to my blond friend. But he would gladly sacrifice his own happiness if it meant that I would be happy again. And if his broken heart was the price for my happiness, he would break it again and again as long as I would feel well again.

_I_ _'ve_ _already easily avoided him for the last_ _few_ _days. I can continue to avoid him until I do not feel betrayed any more,_ he thought, well aware that he was lying to himself. He knew that he had only been able to stay away from me because of his fear that, in his current emotional state, he would say something to me that he would regret later. But to hear that being away from Draco could affect me so violently, it broke his heart. _For Harry,_ he thought as his chest clenched painfully when he walked over to the Floo and called Malfoy manor.

After he finished his Floo call with Draco, he slowly walked towards our bedroom where he found me lying in bed with Nagijan coiled beside me as I rather unsuccessfully tried to distract myself from my depressing life with one of my favourite books.

"Draco will visit you tomorrow," he simply stated in a monotone voice from the doorway, not looking anywhere near my face.

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

Tom simply nodded, his chest hurting painfully at how happy I looked at the news. But seeing the dark circles under my eyes and how thin and fragile I looked, he was convinced that he had made the right decision. While it hurt to see that Draco meant so much to me, seeing me in this state of depression hurt even more. _I only want Harry to be happy,_ Tom thought as he turned around and walked out of the room. He could only hope that the pain in his chest would lessen as time passed.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Tuesday, 6th July 1999**

"Draco!" I happily greeted my friend as we ran into each other's arms, embracing firmly.

"Harry, I am so glad to see that you're alright," Draco said. "When a house-elf simply informed me that I would never see you again, I feared the worst."

"I do not know what has crawled up his ass, but shortly after you left on Thursday Tom stormed in here and accused me of having an affair with you," I told him.

"You look like you did not sleep at all. But physically you're okay?" he asked worriedly, his hands moving all over my body to find any hidden injury.

_Maybe he believes that Tom slapped me or otherwise abused me?_ I wondered as I let him do as he pleased. Once he was finished with his examination, we sat down on the sofa. "I wish that it was the row that's kepts me awake at night," I answered without humour in my voice. "But I'm not physically ill," I added when Draco's eyes lost their shine and panic overcame him once more. _He really worries t_ _o_ _o much_ , I thought with a small smile.

"Than what wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Taking a long and deep breath as I took Draco's hand in mine for support, I gathered my courage and finally spoke, "I'm fairly certain that I'm pregnant." With wonder, I watched as first Draco's face lightened up in joy at the news before his mind realized what being with child would mean for me.

"That's..." he stammered.

"I know," I just said and Draco took me into his arms, finally giving me some of the comfort I've craved for the last few days.

"Does Tom know?" he cautiously asked.

"No," I answered. "With how ridiculously he's been acteing, I would not be surprised if he claims the child to be yours." And while I did not want my words to be true, I feared that this would be exactly how Tom would react to the news.

"Maybe you're not pregnant after all," Draco hopefully said.

"I've been constantly throwing up," I informed him. "But you're free to cast the pregnancy test," I offered.

"I do not know this spell," he admitted. "And asking about it would raise too many questions."

"A Muggle test?" I suggested.

"Will they work for Foreas?" Draco voiced his concern.

"No idea. But we could try it anyway."

"I'll get you one later. For now, let's talk about a less depressing topic," he said and more or less successfully averted my attention from my troubles for the next two hours during which I gratefully only threw up once.

"I'm back," I suddenly heard Draco's voice nearly an hour after he left me. I did not expect him to come back until tomorrow _._ "I told Lord Slytherin that I forgot something in your rooms to let me back in, but here you are," he announced as he handed me a small plastic bag.

Taking it, I peeked inside and saw three small, long packages as Draco explained, "Seeing you throwing up earlier had me worried. So I hurried to get the test for you. What if this isn't morning sickness and you really are ill and need medical treatment?"

"Thank you," I answered, touched by his worry. Emptying the bag on the coffee-table, I opened the first package and unfolded the instruction. Draco following my example, sat down on the couch and opened the second pregnancy test.

Five minutes later I walked out of the bathroom holding the three test sticks in my left hand. With bated breath, Draco and I waited for the test results to show. When I saw how the first one and then the other two tests turned out positive, I panicked.

"NO!" I yelled, throwing the pregnancy tests across the room, only barely registering that tears were running down my face.

"Shh, Harry," Draco tried to calm me down. "Breathe with me," he pleaded when I started to hyperventilate. It took him five minutes until my breath was nearly back to normal. It took another twenty minutes of me crying into Draco's neck and throwing weakly veiled punches against his chest before my body shut down and the blond carried me to my bed.

The next day, Draco returned with aunt Bella in tow. I was about to throw a pillow at the blond for betraying my trust and telling Bella about my predicament when he told me that Bella had already sworn an Unbreakable Vow to not say anything to anyone.

While I was angry that he had not asked me before acting on his own, I could understand his argument that while pregnancy was not a disease—something which I was starting to doubt—it would still be risky to my health to not have regular check-ups.

"Do not worry, Harry, I'll try my best to insure that no one will find out about your pregnancy until the child is born," Bella promised, knowing all too well what it would mean if Dumbledore or one of his friends would found out.

And so, for the first time in days I was optimistic that, with Bella and Draco at my side, I would be able to keep my current pregnancy hidden from everyone. My growing stomach could be easily explained as a normal weight gain from eating too much comfort food. And with the heir already being born, the whole Wizarding world would hopefully stop watching my body with hawk eyes for any sign of pregnancy. _If just the morning sickness would be over,_ I thought as I once again ran to the bathroom.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Wednesday 21st July 1999**

I knew that I was not supposed to leave the manor, especially with how faint I'd been feeling during the last few days, but my instincts told me that it was somehow very important that I go out into the garden where they were already preparing the tents for my birthday party next week. An event for which I held no desire to celebrate.

Carefully I walked in the shadows, trying my best to keep out of sight of the workers who would not hesitate to tell Tom that I was outside. But I could not stand to stay inside the manor any more. It has been nearly a year since my forced confinement and I really, really needed to breathe some fresh air, to feel the wind blowing my hair around and to feel the sun warming my skin.

I was just about to enter the maze, where I was sure none of the workers would be, when I spotted Blaise Zabini walking around a corner and straight towards where I was headed. Quickly, I hid behind one of the tents at the outer edge of the maze's hedges. When not even a minute later his mother followed him into the maze, my curiosity was peaked. Looking around to make sure that no one else would follow after them, I darted into the maze.

Luckily, it wasn't long before I spotted them around a corner. Their conversation was definitely something they did not want overheard, least of all by me.

"Are you sure that you'll get away with poisoning his champagne?" I heard Blaise ask, concerned. "Dumbledore too has developed a great interest in Potter."

"I am the last person you should worry about, Dear," his mother answered. "You should know better than anyone that I'm not nicknamed the Black Widow for nothing. And Dumbledore is only interested in Potter's body," she appeased, sure that the blame would fall on the catering service and skip her, the event manager.

"What you, Blaise, should worry about is how you'll catch Lord Slytherin's attention. Even with Potter out of the way in childbed, you were not able to talk him into starting an affair with you," Mrs Zabini admonished.

"I'm sure that it is only because he is too soft-hearted to cheat on his spouse. Or maybe he just fears what the public would say if our affair had been exposed. With Potter out of the way though, I'm sure that I can seduce him into marrying me," Blaise said arrogantly.

"See that you do," Mrs Zabini ordered.

"Don't worry," her son answered as he waved his hand dismissively. "I heard that he accused Potter of having an affair with Malfoy. And we both know that you only accuse your partner of having an affair if you either have one yourself or want to start an affair of your own and just need a reason to calm your conscience. Based on his reaction to my advances, the latter certainly is the case."

Suddenly overcome by nausea, I ran away from the scene, deeper into the maze. As I threw up the meagre breakfast I'd eaten I wondered what ignited this round of vomiting. _Is_ _it the morning sickness? Or_ _is_ _it the thought that Mrs Zabini_ _i_ _s planning to kill me on my birthday_? I pondered. Both would be a good reason to feel ill. But somehow I felt that what had really gotten to me were Blaise's words.

I did not want to think about the possibility that Tom was cheating on me. _Was I not enough for him?_ I wondered, Tom's weeks long absence from our bed a painful reminder of the current distance between us. _Was I too young and inexperienced for his taste? Did he already have an affair with someone?_ I questioned, trying to imagine, but failing to think of somebody that could be Tom's lover. But still, the thought of Tom seeing someone else behind my back did not want to leave me as I exhaustedly made my way back to my rooms, hoping to not faint on the way.

Once I returned to my bed, I fell into a restless sleep, Blaise's last words still haunting me in my dreams where images of Tom with an older, dark skinned man were a constant presence. I dreamed how they lay in our bed and how Tom took the other man in his office. But even worse was the dream from which I woke up crying my eyes out. In this dream, Tom was telling me that he only wanted me for my Foreas status and the heir I gave him, before he turned his back on me to happily made out with his new lover.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Saturday, 31st July 1999**

I should be happy to have a big birthday party, but with everything that happened during the last months, I did not feel like celebrating at all. While my morning sickness had lessened somewhat during the past week, I still feared that someone at the party would noticed my unusual behaviour and voice their suspicion of my current condition.

_At least Tom's continued absence from our shared rooms makes it easy to hide my pregnancy from him_ , I thought as I got dressed into the outfit Draco had chosen for me yesterday. Unfortunately, the near silence in communication between Tom and I also meant that my 'lovely' husband had decided over my head to combine my birthday party with the celebration of our son's birth. Thus, the guest list was not restricted to my family and friends, but also included the people I did not want to see at all. Dumbledore and his ministry friends being on top of the list. I just knew that he would like nothing more than to once again have me under his control through the old laws.

_I rather_ _drink_ _Mrs Zabini's poisonous champagne_ _and die than to once again go through nine months of utter isolation and the humiliation in front of the old, perverted ministry officials during my so called check-ups,_ I thought decidedly as I buttoned my shirt.

But thinking about Mrs Zabini made me remember her son's claim about Tom having or at least wanting an affair. _Maybe he invited his lover?_ I wondered not for the first time in the past week. Ever since the day that I overheard the two Zabinis talking in the maze, nightmares of Tom and another faceless man were haunting my dreams and sometimes even my waking moments where Tom's absence from my life made me always wonder what he was doing.

The fact that Tom and I did not have sex after that one night in May did not help my worried mind. There were times where I lay awake in our bed and wondered if I had done something wrong when Tom for once allowed me to do as I pleased. _Was I to forward and aggressive? Did teasing him sen_ _d_ _him directly into his new lover's arms?_ I could not help but wonder, never being brave enough to confront Tom with my worries and suspicions.

And there were still Tom's angry words of ' _Would have done the both of us a favour if you_ _'d_ _marr_ _ied_ _Draco_ ' that made me wonder if Tom was only still with me because of our wedding vows. His words made me question if Tom loved me at all, or if he only married me because of my Foreas status. If he only married me because I could give him the heir everyone expected him to have.

Already in a bad and angry mood and in an emotional unstable state due to my hormones, I slowly made my way towards the garden where the guests were already waiting for me. On the way to the staircase, I walked passed the nursery where I watched my parents cooing at my son. But the only emotions I was able to feel at the sight was hate and loathing. There, being coddled was the reason for my eleven month of isolation and misery and he was being amused by pretty lights and funny faces. I just glared angrily at him and walked as fast as I could away from them and down the stairs.

But instead of my mood getting better, once I reached the ground floor corner I spotted Dumbledore and two of his perverted ducklings. Together with my son they reminded me how much I did not want to go through another pregnancy. How tempting the poisonous champagne glass Mrs Zabini was preparing for me sounded in comparison to what would await me once my new pregnancy would be known.

_N_ _o, you cannot think like that,_ I reprimanded myself. _There are so many people who would miss you._ _My parents, Draco, Sirius and Remus, the twins_ _—_ _TOM!_ my heart added. But before I was able to hurry along and finally get outside and breathe in some fresh, calming air, Dumbledore's voice was carried towards my ears.

"Don't worry, Angwyn, you'll not have to miss the sight of Harry's beautiful body for much longer. I'm fairly confident that Harry will be pregnant soon enough. If he isn't pregnant already," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Maybe we will spot the first sign today," he added joyfully.

"I would say that there is a high chance of it happening," Moody, the third person of the small party stated confidently. "I have not palmed the fertility potion off on him for nothing," he added in toast and together they clinked their glasses in congratulation of a job well done.

_NO! This cannot be true._ _They_ _cannot know that I'm with child again,_ I screamed in desperation and horror inside my mind as I ran away from them and towards the back doors. _A fertility potion,_ I thought in horror. _How ha_ _d_ _they gotten me to drink it?_ I wondered. _No! This doesn't matter. They know! They Merlin fucking damned_ _ **know**_ _that I'm with child again! And they're just waiting to reveal the fact to the rest of the wizarding world. No, I cannot go through this again. To have them stare at me with their hungry eyes._

Panicked, I ran even faster. _If I can just get my hands on the champagne I will be save_ _d_ _from their haunting eyes. Where is the Black_ _W_ _idow_ _when_ _you need her_ , I thought as I searched through the glass door for her and the easy way out she offered me.

_There she is,_ I thought in relief when I finally spotted her to the right of the main tent. In my eagerness to run out of the double doors, I stumbled into an unknown man. When I turned around to mumble a hasty excuse, I did not want to believe my eyes. There, on the threshold about to fall down was a broad shouldered, bald, tall, black-skinned wizard. He had a commanding stature and was only slightly older than my parents, wore gold hoop earring and radiated a calm but at the same time authoritative aura. In short, a wizard who could have emanated right out of my current nightmares with how perfectly he resembled my nightmarish image of Tom's lover.

When I then saw how Tom was standing next to the unknown man, I first thought that my mind was playing a trick on me. Tom could not be standing right there with his hands lying on the other man's shoulders when I was standing just inches away from them. _This is just a horrible, horrible nightmare,_ I pleaded, closing my eyes.

"Harry," I heard Tom say. And when I opened my eyes, I still saw Tom with his hands lying on the other man's shoulders. _This is real. Tom is really betraying me with this man,_ I realised with horror.

"No," I whispered brokenly under my breath as I turned my head around. That Tom had only tried to prevent the unknown man from falling did not cross my mind. All I could see was Tom holding his lover in his arms. With tears now freely running down my eyes I ran outside towards the last spot I'd seen Mrs Zabini, not caring at all that Tom was repeatedly calling my name and asking me to stop. _I do not want to he_ _ar_ _h_ _is flimsy excuses. I do not want to be back under Dumbledore's control,_ I thought in desperation, totally ignoring the birthday wishes of the guests.

When I finally reached Mrs Zabini and the salvation her glass of champagne was promising I stated to her, "I need a drink." Gladly accepting the glass she offered me, I gulped it down in one big swallow. _Thank Merlin,_ I thought in relief as my body shut down and I fell on the soft grass, lifeless, only barely having noticed Severus and Tom's screams of my name in the background.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Sunday, 8th August 1999**

Today was supposed to be the day of our first wedding anniversary and I can confidently state that not one soul in the British Wizarding community was happy about it. While my marriage to Tom had gave them the heir they'd so desired for the last decades, only eight days after my nineteenth birthday they were all hoping that I was rotting in hell.

Because Tom's love for me was the reason that today was the birthday of Lord Voldemort. The day where their previously so loved Lord Slytherin changed his name to Lord Voldemort and started his ruthless and unmerciful rule over Magical Britain.

But I could not blame Tom. After my death, he had not been the same. The wizards of Britain can only be grateful that Tom never found out that I was not killed but that I willingly took the poison offered to me. If he knew that I performed suicide, he would have blamed himself even more than he already did.

The whole week after my birthday, he locked himself up in our bedroom and blamed himself for how he neglected me during the pregnancy and our wedding. Blamed himself that he'd been unable to prevent the Old laws from taking effect. Blamed himself for not being able to save me from the poisonous champagne in time. Blamed himself for how he let Dumbledore have so much control over my life. Blamed himself that he had not been able to see through his own insecurity induced jealousy to see that I did not care at all that he was years older than me and that I never saw Draco as more than my best friend. Blamed himself for not having found out before my birthday party that Dumbledore had somehow found a way to administer a fertility potion to me. Blamed himself for not noticing that I had been pregnant once more.

_How could I have been so blind?_ Was the last though Tom Marvolo Riddle had before his eyes were blinded by grief and range and he ceased to exist to be replaced by Voldemort. An insane wizard who would terrorize his people. A wizard whose only goal left in life was to hunt down Dumbledore and his friends because in his eyes they were the ones to be blamed for my death. And only years later when his own child, the one that the prophesy had proclaimed to secure the reign of the Slytherin linage and with it the reign of Lord Slytherin, would finally step in and with a heavy heart kill his own father did Voldemort's reign of terror end.

Or at least the story would have ended like this if Death hadn't decided to argue with Fate...

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And this, my friends, is how I ended up sitting here under the **yew*** tree for the first time. The place where I ended up allowed me to watch a small stream as it transported the white seeds of the dandelion clock that the softly blowing wind had detached from the flower. I do not know if I should call myself happy that at that time, I couldn't remember how my life had ended or what had become of my beloved Tom when he as a result of us being blinded by jealousy became blinded by grief.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Yew:** Yew is known as the tree of life and rebirth.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** This is more or less how I originally wanted to end the story. But as you all wished for a Happy Ending, I'll post an interlude next week and after that the HEA arc starts. :) And luckily even this one will go nicely with "blinded". Let yourself be surprised what blindness it will turn out to be as "blinded by jealousy" was the theme for this tragedy arc. ;)


	18. Interlude

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **AN:** As it is already Sunday in Australia and New Zealand, here is the promised interlude with the full prophecy. Enjoy :)

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~-** **Interlude** **~-~-**

"There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny."

Friedrich von Schiller (Writer)

Have you ever heard the proverbs 'Fate is a bitch' or 'timing is everything'? After ending my own life, I'm qualified to confirm both statements. Not only did I have the dubious honour to meet Fate in person but also to experience first-hand what difference one single minute can make in the life of so many. How many things can change for the better, but sadly, also how other things can go so terribly wrong when the timing of one single event is changed by a mere minute. One little minute, sixty seconds that decided if the fairy tale will end in tragedy or romance. One minute that months later can be the feather that tips the scale between life and death.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Urgh," I groaned as I slowly became conscious. My head was spinning, my ass was aching from sitting too long on a hard surface, my legs were tingling having fallen asleep, and my eyes were resisting to open. The latter at least was easily solved by rubbing them.

Blinking, I slowly took in my new surroundings. About ten meters away was a small stream, whose shore was framed by dandelions that grew in the grass alongside the stream. In the distance I spotted a park with carefully arranged clusters of rose bushes and a lonely oak tree looming on a distant hill.

Turning around, I saw that my back was leaning against the trunk of a tree that was at the outer edge of a forest. Judging by its leaves, I would say that it was a yew tree. Leaning my head back against the tree, I closed my eyes once more, enjoying how the sun's rays warmed my exposed arms, while the softly blowing wind played with my long untied hair.

I had not closed my eyes for long when the calming sound of the river was overshadowed by two loud arguing voices that came from the forest behind me.

"I'm telling you that it was not his time yet," the first voice said.

"And I'm telling you that this is how it is supposed to be," a second voice answered. "He'll die the same day he was born."

"But not when he is still so young," the first voice countered, obviously pitying the poor boy that died.

"There are exactly four events that I assigned for his life. First, he will be born at the end of July. Second, he will become the most important person to you-know-who. Thirdly, he will give birth to their son and finally he will die at the end of July. And you very well know that I never change someone's lot once it is assigned," the second voice spoke.

"But that does not mean that he needs to die the first July after he gave birth. You should know better than anyone that the lots are open for various interpretations. The events that are fated to happen, will happen. But the whens and hows are still out of your control, Fate. The outcomes can change with every decision that is made. So why not let him live some more years and then he can die on his eightieth birthday," the first voice once again argued.

The arguing pair had finally walked close enough to where I was sitting that I could spot them through the trees. As it turned out, the voice that had spoken in favour for the person to live longer belonged to a middle aged woman, that—her deep red hair aside—reminded me strongly of my aunt Bellatrix. They both had the no-nonsense aura around them and seemed to frequent the same clothing stores and hairdressers.

"If you remember, the date was already set before he was born," the second, much younger woman whose name was Fate said, pointing her lollipop at the red-head. Unlike her elegant companion, this young woman with her blonde hair in pigtails looked like a slut. She was dressed in a far too short red and black tartan skirt with black over-the-knee high socks and her see-through white blouse showed everyone that she was wearing a bra with little colourful butterflies beneath it.

 _At least she is wearing some form of underwear,_ was what I thought as they left the forest and walked straight towards where I was sitting, even though they totally ignored my presence.

"But the deaths are still mine to rule over. And I tell you that I do not want him right now," the red-head answered.

"So what do you want me to do?" the blonde asked.

"Change the timing. I want to get the long overdue souls first. Really, I cannot imagine why you let the old man live for so long. His assigned tasks are already completed so let him come to me."

"A minute, that's all you'll get, but only if you''ll get me some more of these lollipops," Fate offered.

"Fine," the red-head grudgingly agreed when they were only three steps away from where I was sitting.

"But don't complain when the new interpretation isn't to your likening, Death," the blonde warned, finally giving the second woman a name. "It could always change for the worse."

"Very funny, Fate," the red-head answered, not amused at all. "I do not think that his lot can have a worse outcome than this."

"True, who in their right mind calls himself 'I am Lord Voldemort'?" Fate questioned.

"Oh, I'm sure you would have preferred him to choose Fate's 'Odd immortal lover' as his **anagram***?" the Death teased.

"'Immoral Voted Lord' is more like it," the blonde said and they both laughed, able to agree for the first time on something. Once their laughter stopped, they finally turned their attention to me.

"Hammy," the blonde greeted me as she happily sucked on her lollipop, causing the 'R' in my name to sound like 'M' and then continued to ignore my presence altogether.

"You are lucky, young Harry," the red-head informed me, stepping even closer to me. "It is rare that someone receives a second chance to live out their fate. For your sake, I hope that this time your path will lead you towards happiness instead of destruction. But even I cannot foresee if a minute will be enough to get us the desired outcome," Death told me. "Take care," were the last words she spoke to me before time went backwards and I was returned to my mother's womb and one event was delayed by one minute. Sixty seconds that would change so many things.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**February 1980, Hog's Head**

When Severus Snape, who at the tender age of twenty had already become one of the best Potions masters in Europe, entered the Hog's Head on this snowy evening in February he did not know that what he would overhear or not overhear this night had the ability to change more than one future life for better or worse.

While Severus had no love left for Fletcher, he was in a desperate need of chimaera eggshells for his latest potion and the dubious black market dealer had promised to deliver the as Non-Tradeable Substance classified Potions ingredient today at seven.

As he was ascending the stairs to room number three, he noticed that the door to Room One was halfway opened. And just as he was about to walk pass the door, he heard a husky trance-like voice begin to speak. Intrigued, he stopped to listen to the voice. And what he heard was beyond anything he had hoped to gain from this evening.

"The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches...born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies...and our Lord will make him his equal," Sybill Trelawney spoke in her Seer-trance, her voice being carried from Room One out into the hallway where Severus was standing.

And as Fate had promised to Death, Mundungus Fletcher's arrival was delayed by one minute, thus allowing my future godfather to hear the second part of the prophecy that the great-greatgranddaughter of the famous Seer Cassandra Trelawney was making.

"But he will have longings our Lord knows not...and either must lay bare themselves to the other for neither can live while the other despairs...the one with the power to destroy our Lord will be born as the seventh month dies, dies as the seventh month dies..." Trelawney spoke before her trance was broken and she bewilderedly looked around the room.

 _I m_ _ust tell him_ _about this. Tom needs to know that there is s_ _omeone who could totally destroy_ _him_ _, but_ _at the same time_ _he could also_ _reinforce_ _his_ _rule,_ Severus thought, determined to inform his good friend and Lord about the prophecy he just overheard by a mere chance of fate.

 _They just need to talk with each other and everything should turn out well_ , he resolved before his thoughts were interrupted by Aberforth's yell from below.

"How many more times do I have to tell you that you're band from this establishment," Aberforth angrily screamed up the stairs as he saw Mundungus Fletcher already halfway up the landing. "Come on you rat, out with you!" Aberforth said, as he grabbed Fletcher by his dirty robes and dragged him towards the door.

 _Why did the dunderhead asked me to meet him in the Hog's head when he's banned from it?_ Severus asked himself, annoyed with the black market dealer. Turning around he went after Aberforth, who was currently busy shoving Mundungus out of the pub's door, hoping to catch Fletcher before he could Apparate away with his chimaera eggshells.

Bumping into Albus Dumbledore on his way downstairs, who was receiving a not so friendly look from his brother for daring to enter the pub, Severus was only barely able to get hold of Fletcher and the chimaera eggshells before the shady wizard could flee the village.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

With a purposeful stride and chimaera eggshells in his inner robes pocket, Severus walked from the driveway of Slytherin Manor, which was located on the outskirts of Northallerton, straight towards Lord Slytherin's study on the second floor.

"Enter," Tom Marvolo Riddle, the current Lord Slytherin and ruler of Magical Britain, called from behind the closed ebony door after Severus knocked on it twice.

Opening the door, Snape walked towards the pear wood desk situated near the big window overlooking the garden, behind which Lord Slytherin sat.

While Lord Slytherin was already fifty-three years old, he still looked like the handsome pale twenty-one year old wizard with dark wavy hair and black eyes he had been at the day of his crowning. And while he had been very young at that time, the wizards and witches of Britain soon loved him. Not because of his beauty, but because he was a fair and highly intelligent ruler. Many of the history books even went so far as to say that Tom Marvolo Riddle becoming Lord Slytherin was the best thing that happened to Britain since the construction of Hogwarts.

The only thing speaking against him was that he still was without a spouse and more importantly an heir, even if many women had tried and were still trying to gain their Lord's attention. Bellatrix Black, a famous Healer, was currently the one woman most desperate to become Mrs Riddle as her parents had informed her that she would have to marry Rodolphus Lestrange if she was unsuccessful in her attempt to catch Lord Slytherin's heart.

"Ah, Severus," Tom said, when he saw who had sought him out. "What brings you here tonight?" he asked, offering the Potions master a seat.

"My Lord," Severus greeted, sitting down in the comfortable green leather chair. "I come because I have important news," he began.

"And what might that be?" Riddle asked, knowing that Severus would never come to him after dinner time if it wasn't important. After all, it was well known that he didn't want to be disturbed after seven.

"I was in the Hog's Head tonight. And while I was waiting for the Potions ingredient dealer to arrive, I overheard a prophecy," Severus explained his unannounced visit.

"And what did the prophecy say?" Lord Slytherin asked, resting his chin on his folded hands, interested in what Snape had to report.

"It said, 'The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal'" Severus repeated the first part of the prophecy he had heard word for word to his Lord.

"Nothing more?" Riddle asked, hoping that it may have said how his reign would be secured.

"Nothing that would help us identify the person," the Potions master admitted. "Just that 'He will have longings our Lord knows not...and either must lay bare themselves to the other for neither can live while the other despairs...'"

"Interesting. Though it is unfortunate that it did not say more about the person's identity...Who else knows of this prophecy?" Lord Slytherin asked after a short moment of silence.

"Besides you, my Lord, and myself, only the Seer is aware of the prophecy's existence," Severus answered the question. "However, I saw Albus Dumbledore walking upstairs, presumably to meet with the seer. So he may also know about it," he voiced his concern.

"As long as no one makes him aware of it, he should stay oblivious to it," Lord Slytherin pacified Severus. "Seers have the handy ability to not remember their own prophecies, so she would not have told him."

This news was a relief to Severus, for a moment he feared that the hated Albus Dumbledore would know that there was someone out there that would be able to destroy Tom.

"You did good, Severus, in reporting the prophecy to me," Lord Slytherin praised. "You can go now," he then dismissed his Potions master, wanting to be alone to contemplate what he would do with the new knowledge.

 _To bad that the prophe_ _c_ _y_ _he heard_ _didn't give a name. A_ _t least_ _it is_ _informative enough to point me in the right direction,_ Tom thought after Severus closed the study's ebony door behind him. The first part of the prophecy gave Lord Slytherin some details about who the second person could be.

 _So, the person to assure my reign will be born at the end of July, most likely in this year,_ Lord Slytherin thought. _Also, this person will obviously be male. A male carrier even, or otherwise I wouldn't be able to marry him and thus make him my equal as the prophe_ _c_ _y suggests,_ he deciphered from the prophecy.

 _At least not many male carries are born, so that will considerably cut down the number of probable candidates,_ Tom thought with a smirk, getting up from his chair; it was time to finally retire for the day and he walked to the master bedroom of Slytherin Manor on the third floor.

Lord Slytherin of course was right in his assumption that the male being a carrier would severely cut down the possible persons the prophecy could refer to. Only about one out of fifty wizards had the ability to get pregnant. Thus, a male carrier―or a Foreas to use the technical term―was only born every one or two years in Britain. And in nineteen-eighty only one boy would turn out to be a Foreas: I―Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Potter.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When Severus finally returned to his home in Spinner's End, he was still unsure about his spontaneous decision to conceal the final part of the prophecy from Lord Slytherin. But the final words were haunting him in his thoughts.

 _'_ _born as the seventh month dies, dies a_ _s_ _the seventh month dies…_ _'_ These words awakened the image of a dead newborn in the Potions master's mind. He did not know why, but together with _'_ _the one with the power to destroy our Lord_ _'_ they created the feeling that if Lord Slytherin knew that the boy would not only be able to secure his rule, but could also as easily destroy him, that Tom, out of fear for his life, would steep so low as to kill an innocent little baby.

It was nagging him that there had been no pause between _'t_ _he one with the power to destroy our Lord_ _'_ and _'_ _born as the seventh month dies, dies a_ _s_ _the seventh month dies…_ _'_ when the seer made her predicting, like Lord Slytherin knowing that a child could be his downfall would immediately result in the child's death on the day of his birth.

 _I'm doing the right thing,_ Severus tried to make himself believe the words. _I will not damn an innocent baby to death. And as long as I make sure that he and Lord Slytherin will talk, the boy will not be his downfall. That I'll make sure!_ he swore.

And while in the coming months there was more than one lonely night where Severus quarrelled with his decision to conceal part of the prophecy, when it became clear that his own godson was the prophesied child, he never again even considered telling anyone about the final part of the prophecy. Instead, he alone would spend the rest of his own life worrying about me on my birthdays. Always fearing that this birthday would be my last one. But the strong man he was, he never shared his worries with anyone, instead bearing the burden all alone.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And this is how I received my second chance at life. A second life I did not know I received before I once again ended up under the same yew tree years later, when a smiling Death and a grumpy Fate joined me underneath the tree's shadows to show me how my previous life had played out.

But as I was completely unaware of my previous life before I once again joined the dead, I had been unable to warn the people dear to me about the not so happy events Fate had in store for them. But at least this time, the path I took in the end did not lead to tragedy even though some events had me believing otherwise from time to time. But watch and see for yourself how much a difference sixty little seconds have made in the tale of my life.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**Anagram:** More funny anagrams of Tom's name can be found on my Fanfiction.net profile page.

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**AN:** The next chapter will be updated in October. I still need to work out the finer details of this arc as I did not originally plan to have a HAE arc. And do not worry, it certainly won't be a repeat of the first arc. I just copied parts of the prologue into this chapter to show that the only real change was that Fletcher was slightly late which resulted in Dumbledore not asking Ariana's portrait about the prophecy and thus he is blissfully unaware of Harry's role in Tom's life.

**And feel free to leave me a review with what you believe will happen or not happen this time.**


	19. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ , " _Parseltongue_ _"_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** Description of a bloody fight, Character deaths (not Harry or Tom)

 **AN: Thank you for all the new Kudos! :)** I still have not worked out all the details of this arc, but I wanted to give you a first impression of how the second arc is constructed.

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**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

 **-~-~- Chapter** **1** **6** **-~-~-**

"Perfection does not exist. Close up everything turns out to merely be a compromise. In the end, it is up to the individual to decide what they value above others to not allow for any compromises in its regard."

Just as Fate had warned Death, not everything during my second chance at life changed for the better. But did this mean that I had a less happy childhood? No!

I admit that having been unaware of my other childhood I could not compare them or miss something I had during my other life. But even now, as I am once again sitting together with Fate and Death under the yew tree, I cannot decide which of my two childhoods was the happier one. Both childhoods had one thing that I greatly value, but I know that I would never have been able to have the best of both lives because gaining one of those things meant losing the other.

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The beginning of my new life played out exactly as my old one. While Severus at first assumed that Neville could be the prophesied child, he did not hesitate to rush to my mother's side when she went into early labour an hour before midnight on the thirty-first of July. However, there were some noticeable changes during my baptism party.

"Ha, even our Lord knows that Harry will be a Gryffindor," Sirius bragged, talking loudly even though Remus was standing right next to him. But then, Severus was the person he wanted to overhear his comment. And as the Potions master was standing some feet away, talking to Lucius, Sirius found it necessary to raise his voice. But the only reaction Sirius obtained from Severus was an annoyed shake of his head.

"You know," Remus said to his lover, "if you wanted to brag over plush toys you could always have gotten Harry a giant dog."

"Remus," Sirius complained as he slapped Remus' arm "why didn't you tell me this sooner. I already know that Harry will love his plush Snuffles."

"I wouldn't be so sure about it," Remus mumbled, looking in my direction.

I was laying in my mother's arms, gripping as tight as an eleven day old baby could at the cartoon like lion plush Tom had given me for my baptism. Next to me, Draco was also laying in his mother's lap, holding on to his dragon plush as we communicated with each other with gestures and smiles.

"I wonder why our Lord gave him a lion plush," Lucius commented to Severus. "Usually he tries to avoid any references to the Hogwarts houses."

"I do not think that it is a reference to Gryffindor," Severus answered. "The name Harry means ruler and as lions are seen as the ruler of animals..." he trailed off.

"Draco's dragon is still larger," Lucius said arrogantly before he changed the topic. "Speaking about Hogwarts, is the old fool still annoying you with the open Potions master position?"

"Don't remind me," Severus groaned. "As much as I can understand that no one wants to work for Dumbledore, I cannot believe that I seem to be the only one that has to endure his constant nagging."

"You are the youngest Potions master and if you ask me, also the most talented in Europe. It is no wonder that Dumbledore wants you under his thumb."

"That does not give him the right to not understand that 'No' means no. How would you like it if he showed up at three in the morning and demands non-stop that you accept the position?" Severus asked his friend rhetorically. "I'm just grateful that Lord Slytherin invited me to stay in his manor until Dumbledore finally gives up."

"You mean until he dies," Lucius corrected.

"I rather not impose on our Lord longer than necessary. Before that happens, I rather kill the old fool myself."

 _At least one good thing did come out of Dumbledore's constant advances,_ Severus thought when he spotted my lightning bolt earring reflecting the sunlight. While it was the sign that I was engaged to Tom, only three people were currently aware of its meaning.

As Severus already knew about the prophecy, Tom had not hidden his engagement negotiations with my father from Severus. When Severus had heard that for now, it would only be an informal engagement and that I would not be able to decide for myself, he insisted that a written agreement was signed. He was still worried about the part of the prophecy that said ' _But he will have longings our Lord knows not_ '. When he argued that one of those longings mentioned in the prophecy could be the desire to decide for myself if I wanted to marry Tom, Tom agreed that this was a good point. Therefore, he invited my father back the next day to set up an official marriage agreement, with Severus playing the part of the witness.

My marriage contract basically said that regardless of what will happen in the years to come Tom and I would marry once I was of age and finished Hogwarts. There were only two events which permitted the engagement to be broken during the curse of the following week.

The first event was my Elencho Foreas. While Severus had assumed that the clause would say that the engagement would be off if I was not a Foreas, Tom had decided for a different wording. Paragraph §2a stated that if the outcome of my Elencho Foreas showed that I was a Foreas, then Tom would have no right to cancel the engagement. Only if my test declared that I was not a Foreas, would Tom have one week to decide if he still wanted to stay engaged to me or not.

When Severus asked Tom afterwards why he had decided for this option, he just said that he was sure that I was the prophesied child. "And even if Harry is not a Foreas, a week is enough time to check other possible candidates. Though, I am sure that Harry is the one. For all we know, you could invent a potion which allows for non-Foreas to also carry children."

In comparison paragraph §2b was just what Severus expected. It simply stated that after my seventeenth birthday I had one week to decide if I wanted to marry Tom or not. Changing my mind later will not be a possibility, even though our marriage contract gives us five years before we have to be wed.

And while this as good as promised to lead to a marriage in eighteen year, the condition about my currently unknown Foreas status made my father hesitate from announcing the agreement to family and friends. Tom was also happy about the silence, as it would prevent the media from hunting me and following me as I grew up.

"Severus," my father interrupted Severus' musings, Lucius long ago having left Severus to his thoughts. "I wanted to thank you for insisting on the written agreement. I certainly feel better knowing that Harry will be able to decide for himself if he wants this marriage or not."

"That's what godfathers are there for," Severus answered, his eyes still fixed on me and my earring.

"Still, thank you," my father insisted. "I already fear that Lily made a better choice than I," he added as they both watched Sirius approaching Lily, Narcissa, Draco and I. They both shook their heads when Sirius demonstrate with his stretched out arms how enormous my new plush dog would be.

"She was always the more sensible," Severus commented dryly.

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I didn't dare to ask Fate, but after watching both my lives, I feel like my mother was fated to only ever have one child and that Halloween in 1981 was the day that would ensure that she would not conceive more children.

My parents had decided to host a Halloween party. And while I was still too young to understand the meaning behind the Wizarding holiday Samhain and the Muggle customs of Halloween, it didn't stop my father from dressing me up in a lion costume―courtesy of my godfather Sirius―and inviting my two best friends, Neville and Draco, for the celebration.

Of course, their parents were also invited to the party together with Sirius, Remus, Peter and Severus. Remus couldn't attend the party because he was away on the continent to fulfil his duty as one of Lord Slytherin's ambassadors. And Peter had owled a letter saying that he had gotten a cold and didn't want to risk infecting the other guests, especially not the children.

"I feel sorry for Neville," Sirius announced as he re-entered my parent's living room, a new bottle of Butterbeer in hand.

"And why is that?" Frank asked, irritated. As much as he liked Sirius, he really hated how Sirius favoured and spoiled me.

"Because unlike Harry and Draco, he does not have a plush toy to match his costume," Sirius answered. While it was true that Draco and I both wore a costume that matched the plush toy Tom had given us, Neville still looked cute in his unicorn costume.

"Last time I checked, Black," Severus drawled from the couch, "you were still complaining about Harry preferring his lion over the ridiculous monster of a dog you gave him."

"Nah, he just likes the real thing better, don't you cub?" Sirius asked me, bending down to scoop me up from where I was sitting with Draco on the carpeted living room floor, happily munching on a pumpkin pastry.

"No," I answered with a decisive shake of my head, making Severus smirk in triumph and Frank laug at Sirius' expense.

"But I gave you your costume," Sirius whined, sitting down in one of the armchairs to sulk and sip on his Butterbeer.

"Up," I demanded, holding up my lion plush now with pumpkin pastry sticky hands towards Severus. Not wanting to be left behind, Draco copied my motion, also holding out his hands and plush toy towards Severus.

Giving Sirius a look that said, _See who is the bet_ _ter_ _loved_ _godfather_ , Severus walked towards Draco and I and picked us both up, not minding our sticky hands. Balancing us in his arms, he slowly walked back to the couch. Once he settled down, Draco and I both snuggled up against his chest.

"Sometimes I could swear that Harry likes you more than James," my mother said only loud enough for Severus to hear as she joined her friend on the couch a while later.

"Mum," I said and crawled from Severus' lap towards my mother's, dragging the lion plush behind me. However, before I could properly settle down again a loud "Bang" startled us all. It was the front door of our house that was blasted out of its hinges.

Alice Longbottom quickly picked up her son Neville, who had started to cry loudly, trying to calm her son down while moving towards shelter.

Shoving Draco into Narcissa's arms, Severus commanded, "Take the children and Floo to Malfoy Manor!"

Quickly, all three mothers ran with their child in their arms towards the Floo, the others grabbed their wands, ready to protect them and fight off whoever was currently attacking them. But before my mother reached the jar of Floo powder, Fenrir Greyback entered my parents' living room together with seven of his pack members. And while that Halloween night wasn't a full moon and the afternoon sun was still shining outside, the werewolves were still half-transformed, sporting more than the normal amount of body hair, as well as sharp claws on their hands.

 _An_ _incorrectly brewed Wolfsboon_ _Potion,_ Severus immediately knew when he saw the werewolves.

"The big, bad wolf and his friends have arrived, my little sheep," Greyback barked out as he ran into the living room, blindly casting some Blasting Curses around the room, which Sirius and my father reflected.

"And don't forget the little lambs," Greyback's fifty-five year old looking beta added, a hungry look on his face as he stared at us children near the fireplace. He was known to have a special liking for small children. The younger, the better was his motto.

"Floo out," Severus yelled, thrusting the mothers out of their stupor and into action.

Narcissa was the first one to react, taking a handful of Floo powder and calling out "Malfoy Manor."

My mother quickly followed her example, but before she could step into the green flames, Alice thrust Neville into her arms, saying "We'll need everyone to fend them off." And she was right, there were eight werewolves, but only five of them if Alice should leave too.

With a nod, my mother was about to step into the flames, as Greyback's beta made a mad rush towards them before my mother could escape with his prey. With his razor sharp claws he lunged at her, but Alice threw herself in its path to allow my mother to escape to safety, gaining a deep cut from her right shoulder and upper arm down to her stomach.

 _Thank Merlin, the boys are safe,_ was all the adults thought as they watched the fireplace before they started to attack the intruders with everything they had, Alice Longbottom being nearly defenceless to the viciously attacking beta with her injured wand arm.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

As soon as Narcissa was in the safety of Malfoy Manor, she called out for Dobby to bring her the spare playpen. After putting a frightened Draco in, she was starting to worry about where my mother and Alice were, when the Floo turned green and my mother stepped out. The bundles in her arms were a contradiction. In her left arm, there was Neville, crying loudly for his mother and in her right arm she held me, surprisingly totally and unnaturally calm, holding my plush lion with both hands.

When she put us both down in the playpen with Draco, she walked back to the Floo. "They need everyone who can fight," she said and Flooed right back to our house, wand at the ready. All that mattered to her was that I was safe. Now she only had to ensure that James and her friends would be safe as well.

Never having been a good duellist, Narcissa decided that she would be of better help to them if she stayed with us children and contacted backup. First, she called on her sister Bellatrix at the Lestrange Manor. Not only was she a famous Healer, but also a powerful duellist. Depending on how the fight went Bella could either help fighting or she could start on healing anyone who was gravely injured. After Narcissa had told her what was happening, Bellatrix immediately Flooed to my home to help my parents, her husband of seven months and brother-in-law in tow.

Taking a calming breath, Narcissa's nerves settled somewhat at the knowledge of three good duellist being on their way to help the others. It was a crucial minute later, as she was singing to us in an attempt to sooth Neville and Draco, when she remembered that it would be wise to inform Lord Slytherin about the attack. That she could also have called the Aurors for help did not even cross her still agitated mind.

"Narcissa," Tom answered the Floo call, a bit annoyed to be disturbed during the holiday.

"I'm sorry to call on you, my Lord," she began. "But something terrible happened. Greyback is attacking the Potters' home." That certainly got Tom's attention.

"Are they alright? Have you already called for backup?" he quickly asked.

"We and the Longbottoms were there for a Halloween party. I and Lily were able to escape with the children through the Floo," she explained. "Lily went back to help, and my sister and the Lestrange brothers also Flooed over to help."

"Stay where you are. I'll go and help." And with that Tom ended the Floo call and hasted to my home, or at least what was left of it.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"How dare you to attack my Drakky-poo and my Harry-kins," an angry Bellatrix Lestrange yelled as she stepped out of the Floo, wand at the ready.

While the woman was a brilliant witch, both Draco and I hated the nicknames Bella gave us when we were still little kids and continued to use during the rest of our lives. But then, when wasn't someone brilliant also a bit mad? At least her madness was restricted to the occasional baby-talk when she was really angry or really happy about something. And for a Black, this was a rather mild form of insanity.

Looking around, she saw that her brother-in-law Lucius had already been able to immobilise and to constrain one of the werewolves and was now busy fighting against a second one. Her cousin Sirius was shockingly standing back to back with Severus, fighting against three of the half transformed wolves who had surrounded them.

My mother Lily was trying her best to defend herself against the beta of the pack, her left shoulder injured and her right leg bleeding heavily. Behind her, next to the fireplace, lay Alice Longbottom rather lifelessly on the ground, bleeding heavily from a head wound as well as from her stomach and shoulder where the beta had clawed into her when she ensured my mother's safe escape.

"Oh, you'll pay, you little bitch, for steeling my prey. They were such yummy children," the beta snarled as he once again tried to lunge at my mother.

My father and Frank Longbottom were currently trying their best to finish off their opponents, so that they could assist their wives. But while it looked like my father was slowly gaining the upper hand in his fight, Frank was having a harder time fending off Fenrir Greyback

The leader of the werewolf pack had instantly run towards the brunet and attacked him with vigour. "Oh, you'll pay, you little bastard, for severely injuring my mate," Greyback snarled at Frank.

Not losing any more time, Bellatrix rushed the two meters over towards Alice to try and save her life, certain that my mother would be able to protect her while she saw to Alice's injuries until one of the Lestrange brothers would arrive to cover her.

But it was Bellatrix moving towards Alice that distracted my mother from her opponent, and even while her attention was behind her for only three seconds, they were enough to give Greyback's beta the opening he needed to sink his crawls deep into her stomach, wrenching her bowels out with his next move.

"No," my father yelled in despair, but it was already too late as my mother fell down lifeless to the ground, her head landing at Bellatrix's feet, one end of her bowel still stuck to the beta's claw, connecting them with a macabre leash.

If Rodolphus had only stepped out of the Floo five seconds earlier, his cutting curse would have cut off the beta's arm before he could have clawed at my mother.

"He's mine," my father yelled, attacking the beta as Rodolphus handled the werewolf my father was previously fighting against.

Seeing that Frank was struggling against Greyback, the newly arrived Rabastan joined him in the fight.

As the fight continued, Lucius succeeded in injuring his opponent's left leg and Severus killed one of the three werewolves he was fighting against with Sirius. With two down and one of them killed, the werewolves were now outnumbered―five of them against seven wizards, as Bellatrix was too busy caring for Alice to be of any help

When Lord Slytherin arrived at the scene, it wasn't surprising when Greyback ordered, "Retreat! I finished what I came here for." Though that didn't stop my father from sending one more hex at the beta, or Greyback from a last attack on Frank.

When they were sure that the werewolves would not be coming back, Severus and my father immediately ran over to where my mother was lying on the floor. "No," they both cried out in anger and despair. While my father had seen that my mother fell, and hoped that the nearby Bellatrix would be able to heal her, Severus had been too busy with his three opponents to see what happened to the others. But now, as they both knelt before my mother's fallen body it was obvious that they were too late. Nothing would be able to bring her back.

Seeing that the only severely injured persons in the room where the Longbottoms, Tom hurried towards Frank. While he was in a better shape than his wife, he was still in danger of dying due to blood loss or internal bleeding from Greyback's final attack to his chest. Finding that one of the man's lungs was punctured, Lord Slytherin cast a spell which would not heal the wound but at least would help Frank with breathing until Bellatrix or another Healer could have a look at it.

Just as Sirius, Lucius and Rabastan re-entered the living room―the three men had run after the werewolves but had been unable to catch any more of them as they quickly Apparated away as soon as they were outside of the Anti-Apparition wards―Bellatrix had walked over to her beloved Lord.

"How is she faring?" Tom asked Bella about Alice, pointing his head in the direction of the injured witch.

"She is so gravely injured that I had to put her in a healing coma. I do not know if she'll make it," was the Healers honest evaluation of the woman's current situation.

"Alice," Frank chocked out, worried, his voice so low that even Tom had trouble hearing it. "I better put him in a healing coma, too," Bellatrix Lestrange said softly after she cast her own very advanced diagnostic spell which had revealed that Frank, in addition to his punctured lung, also had a small amount of bleeding in his brain. It was for the best to put him in a magical coma to prevent him from getting worse.

"Any luck with catching some of them?" Rodolphus asked his brother. He, like the others were very aware that they lost Lily, but besides the two mourning figures at my mother's side, they were all suppressing their grief for the moment. They knew from experience that it was important to get control over the situation first, before they could allow to let their guard down and mourn the death.

"No," Rabastan answered with a shake of his head.

"At least we still have the one I captured at the beginning," Lucius tried to cheer up the mood without any success. "It's obvious from Greyback's words that they came here to attack the Longbottoms because Frank had been able to cut off the right arm of his mate and he wanted to take revenge on them. The fact that he could at the same time have a go at the rest of us, surely was a bonus to him," the blond said.

"Lily is not a BONUS!" my father yelled at Lucius in anger. Severus laid a calming hand on his arm, saying soothing words, even though he too was angry enough to run after Greyback right now. But he reminded both himself and my father that there was still me to think of and that they both should be happy that the children were all safely awaiting their parents' return at Malfoy Manor.

"How did he know that Frank and Alice would be here today and not at their own home?" Rabastan questioned.

"That is something I would love to know too," Severus said, standing up with my father.

"I'm sure that I can get something out of him," Lucius told them, kicking the stunned half-transformed werewolf he had captured.

Walking over to the bound werewolf, my father gave him a good kick of his own, saying, "I'll help."

"Lucius, Rabastan, take the prisoner to the dungeon in Slytherin Manor. Sirius and Bellatrix bring the injured to St Mungo's and inform Augusta Longbottom. Rodolphus help James bring Lily to Slytherin Manor. Severus go to Malfoy Manor and inform Narcissa what happened and then bring Harry back with you to my home," Tom took control as he divided the tasks at hand. "We'll all meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss the next steps," he added, just before he left the room and Flooed to Slytherin Manor.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When Severus arrived, he was greeted by a rare sight. The stoic Malfoy matriarch was kneeling on the ground in front of the playpen, singing a song to calm Neville and Draco down, who were still a bit hysterical about the sudden werewolf attack.

I, on the other hand, had been calmly sitting in one corner of the playpen. That was until I noticed Severus standing behind the blonde woman. Then, I pushed myself up into a standing position and I held out my arms in front of me and demanded, "Up!"

"Demanding, aren't you?" Severus asked as he picked me and my plush up.

"Is everyone all right?" Narcissa asked, worried.

Severus choked, fighting to swallow the despair that was attacking his Occlumency shields. "I wish they were," he finally said, unable to look into my eyes that resembled so much my mother's.

"What happened?" Narcissa asked, laying a comforting hand on Severus shoulder, her own face pale with worry for her husband and friends.

"The Longbottoms are gravely injured," Severus began and pressed me closer to his chest, "and Lily–" here his voice faltered, the loss was still too fresh. "And Lily...is...dead," he finally chocked out, drawing strength from my presence in his arms, absently petting my wild hair.

"Oh Severus," Narcissa wailed, needing to support herself on the edge of the playpen. _Lucius is alive and well._ The thought suddenly overcame her, the relief over her husband's well-being quickly being overshadowed by guilt over her good friend's death and how affected Severus and James must be to have lost my mother.

"Mum?" I suddenly asked, tugging with my free hand at Severus robes, which black sleeves were soaked in my mother's blood, something which he only noticed when my hand was smeared in red when I held it up to his cheek. Severus sobbed.

"Lucius should join you in an hour," was the only thing Severus could say, before he turned away and hastily Flooed to Slytherin Manor. He did not want anyone to see his grief, to see him so weak and close to collapse.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

"Severus," Tom greeted his friend as soon as he stepped out of the Floo in Slytherin Manor. Seeing the despair and one lone tear in Severus' eyes, he added, "I'll take care of Harry. The house-elves already prepared your old room for you."

With a grateful nod, Severus handed me and my toy over to Tom and briskly walked to the set of rooms he'd occupied just a year ago when he had been hiding from Dumbledore's stubborn or rather insane offers of taking the Potions master position at Hogwarts.

"Mum?" I asked again, holding up the blood-red hand. Tom's heart constricted. Here we were, for the first time being close to each other and I was asking about my mother who had died just minutes ago and whose corpse was being prepared for burial somewhere inside this manor. Or was I in reality asking if the blood on my hand belonged to my mother? Neither of us knew.

"Let's get you cleaned up, Harry," Tom said, ignoring my previous question as he walked with me towards his bathroom. Not knowing what else he should do, he decided that at least he could clean up the blood on my hands.

" _Whose that?"_ Nagini asked when Tom entered his bedroom.

" _This is Harry,"_ he answered.

" _Your future mate?"_ she asked for affirmation as she followed us into the, for the Lord of Wizarding Britain, rather simple bathroom.

" _Yes."_

" _It's nice to meet you, young Harry,"_ Nagini said to me.

It was a good thing that Tom had already sat me down on the lid of the toilet because to everyone's surprise I answered her, _"_ _Hello,"_ as I winked at her with my lion plush.

" _You are a speaker?"_ Nagini asked full of wonder. Tom was still too shocked to react.

" _Pretty,"_ was my one word answer as I pointed my bloodied hand in the snake's direction.

Seeing the blood moved Tom out of his shock and he began the task of taking off my lion costume so that he could bathe me. The hood was easily pushed down, but when it came to letting go of my lion plush so that Tom could remove the rest of my costume, I viscously shook my head 'No'. _"If you let go of the toy, I'll let you pet Nagini,"_ Tom tried to bribe me, speaking in Parseltongue so that Nagini too knew what Tom offered.

" _Nagini?"_ I asked looking around, not knowing who or what he meant.

" _I am Nagini,"_ the snake supplied.

" _Pet pretty?"_ I needed to clarify.

" _Yes. If you put down your toy, you can pet pretty,"_ Tom answered with a smile.

With a nod, I let go of my beloved plush lion, allowing Tom to take off my costume. Once this was done, Tom wandlessly filled the bathtub with warm water, just enough to reach my navel when I was sitting up. Picking me up, Tom carried me over towards the tub and sat me down in the water, supporting my back.

"Pew prewwy," I complained, I wanted to pet the snake and not get wet. Tom just chuckled. It was amusing to him that I had no trouble speaking Parseltongue, but still was unable to properly pronounce the 'T' when I was speaking English.

" _Will you entertain Harry while I wash him?"_ Tom asked Nagini, who in answer slithered towards the tub and moved her head towards my face.

" _Pretty,"_ I repeated as I moved my hands forward to pet her head as Tom carefully washed my body while I said more or less sensible words to Nagini.

While it was apparent that I could not yet control my Parseltongue ability, needing to look at Nagini to switch into the language of snakes, Tom still saw it as one more sign that I was the prophesied child. Who else than his equal should be a Parselmouth?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

An hour later, I was freshly bathed and happily sitting on Tom's bed, wearing a robe Tom had transfigured for me and together with Nagini was playing a game of bursting soap-bubbles Tom conjured. Being confident that I would be safe and content for the time being and that Nagini or the house-elves would alert him if anything would happen to me, Tom left his rooms in search for my father and Lucius.

Wanting to give my father some more time to grieve in private, Tom walked down to the dungeon where he still expected Lucius to be. Tom did not even walk down a quarter of the staircase when Lucius crossed his path.

"My Lord," the blond greeted respectfully.

"Lucius," Tom answered. "Any news from our prisoner?"

"Yes. While I am sure that more information can be gained from him, I was able to obtain the most important piece already. It seems like we had a traitor in our midst." Here, Lucius paused for effect until a raised eyebrow prompted him to continue. "Pettigrew sold out the Potters."

"Peter Pettigrew? One of James' best friends?" Tom asked.

"Yes," Lucius confirmed. "Apparently some days ago, while Pettigrew was out in the woods to collect some potion ingredients as a part of his job for an apothecary, the little rat ran into Greyback and two of his pack members. To save his own useless hide, he told them that the Potter's Halloween party would be a good opportunity for Greyback to get revenge, as not only the Longbottoms but also James and I would be there," the blond elaborated.

"And where is Pettigrew now?" Tom asked in a cold voice. If he had been able to escape, he could at least have warned his friends of the impending attack.

"The werewolf told us that Greyback let him go after he threatened him to secrecy," Lucius answered. "Both Lestranges are already searching for him as we speak."

"Good," Tom said. "Inform me immediately if he is found. I am sure that James would like to punish him for his betrayal himself." _If Severus does not get to him first,_ Tom added in his head.

"If I may leave to go back to my wife and child?" Lucius asked.

"Of course," Tom answered. "You can continue the interrogation tomorrow, I'm sure that Narcissa is anxious to see you."

"Thank you, my Lord." And with this Lucius took his leave and Tom made his way up to search for my father.

Asking a house-elf, Tom was informed that my father was kneeling in front of the bed where my mother's corpse was laid onto for the time being. Sighing, he made his way towards the spare bedroom and after knocking on the door, he slowly entered the room and lay a comforting hand on James' shoulder.

"Come, James," he said softly. "Harry needs you too." With that he guided my father away from my mother's dead body and towards one of the guest rooms, where he settled my father into the bed before he walked back to his own rooms to retrieve me.

" _I see that you're having a lot of fun, Harry,"_ Tom said when he saw me sitting atop Nagini's body and using her as my personal pony.

" _Faster pretty, faster,"_ I demanded as I pointed with my lion plush towards where Tom was standing.

 _"He is very easy to please,"_ Nagini answered as Tom picked me up from her body. _"Let's go to your father."_

"Daddy!" I said joyfully, before I cuddles into Tom's chest.

Once we reached the guest room Tom assigned to my father, I began a happy chant of "Daddy, daddy," until I was in my father's arms.

"Harry," he answered brokenly, hugging me tightly to him.

"Mummy," I said, and my father began to weep, his body shaking, the loss still too fresh. "Mummy, daddy, mummy," I cried, not understanding what was wrong with my father.

"Shh, Harry," Tom tried to calm me, but I just shook my head no and once again cried out for my mother to help my father.

"I'll take him," Severus suddenly spoke up, having come running when he heard my cries three doors down. His red eyes clearly showed how much pain he was in, but as he had cried for his best friend, he'd promised her that he would take good care of me and always be there for me as I grew up.

"Sev," I yelled, holding up my arms for him to pick me up.

"Shh, it's okay Harry," he soothingly said to me, petting my hair. Awkwardly, he fished out a Dreamless Sleep Potion from his trouser pocket and held it out for James. "Drink this. Harry will need you in the morning. Until then, I'll watch after him," Severus said, hoping that a good night's sleep would help my father to process the tragic event of today.

"Take care of Harry," he said, before he swallowed the bitter tasting potion. Giving the other occupants of the room a sad smile, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. If either of the adults had known his last thought before falling asleep, maybe the next morning would have played out differently. But alas, they didn't know what a happy little picture we three made in his mind, with me in Severus' arms and Tom standing next to us, as my father thought that this would be his Harry's future.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

When Severus entered the James' room eight hours later, shortly after six the next morning with me in his arms, he found the bed empty, only a folded piece of parchment laying on the pillow. Quickly, he sat me down on the bed and read the letter my father had left for him.

_**~Dear Severus,** _

_**I'm sorry. I just cannot allow Lily's murderer to keep on living, when she is lying cold in a bed somewhere. I do not know if Sirius will come with me, but I know that I will not leave Geyback's camp while his beta is still breathing.** _

_**Please keep care of Harry for me and her. Your insistence on a marriage contract already showed that you will be a much better father to him than I will ever be.** _

_**Tell Harry that I'll always love him,** _

_**James~** _

_This is insane,_ Severus thought when he read the letter. _I can only hope that B_ _l_ _ack was able to stop him._

Picking me again up in his arms, Severus walked quickly to the closest Floo and called Grimmauld Place. When no one answered him, he became really worried. _Black wouldn't…_ he thought desperately, as he called for a house-elf to inform Tom that they had an emergency and then Flooed the Auror office. He could only hope that my father was still alive and that the rescue party would not be too late.

"What is it?" asked Tom three minutes later, his hair still in disarray from sleep, but relieved to see me sitting alive and well in Severus' lap.

"Potter has gone insane and took Black with him," Severus said dryly without humour.

"What did he do?"

"According to this letter, he walked straight into Greyback's camp, intent on killing Lily's murderer," he said and handed over the letter. "I already informed the Auror office."

"I'll go and help," Tom said for the second time in twenty-four hours. "You stay here and watch over Harry."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

It was a long fifty minutes later when Tom finally returned to his home. "I'm sorry," were the first words he said when he sat down in the chair opposite the couch Severus and I were occupying. "We were too late to save James. Sirius is in a critical condition and even St. Mungo's top Healers do not know if he will ever wake up again."

"Daddy?" I asked, hugging my plush lion close to me. The gesture broke both men's hearts. To have lost both my parents in under one day and to think that both deaths could have been prevented if my mother hadn't gone back to our home once she brought me to Malfoy Manor, or if my father had stayed in Slytherin Manor instead of running to his own death out of grief.

"You have me, Harry," Severus finally said after a minute of silence.

"And me," Tom added, standing up and taking a seat on the couch with Severus and I. As he ran a hand through my hair, he said, "I do not know if I should be relieved that they succeeded in killing both Greyback and his beta, for I fear that their mates will want revenge." If he was talking to me, Severus or himself, neither of us knew.

"I'll ensure that they will not hurt him," Severus vowed.

"I know," Tom answered calmly, placing a supportive hand on Severus' shoulder. "And that is why I want you and Harry to live with me. He will be much better protected here than anywhere else in Britain."

"Thank you," was all Severus could say to the offer as we three sat for some more minutes in silence, needing to come to terms with what had happened and how we would go on from here.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

And this is how I became an orphan. But while I've lost my parents, I gained a father in Severus. And what was even more important to me, Tom and I developed a very close relationship since my early childhood. Over the coming years, Tom changed from being my uncle to my boyfriend and lover. And during all this time, I always considered Tom as one of my closest friends.

It really was a shame that when I grew up with my parents, Tom would keep his distance and only their death would result in Tom taking a more active part in my life. But when was life ever perfect?

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

**AN:** Before you complain about Harry's parents dying when this is supposed the HEA arc, I'll only tell you that Harry being an orphan is canon and that Harry living with Severus will result in a new form of happiness for Harry. So cheer up! ;)

 **Next:** October/November? I have no idea...


	20. Chapter 17 - Part I

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** Thank you for all the Kudos. :) This is a very Skeeter-heavy chapter, but she plays a big role in changing the course of Harry's life. But read for yourself in Parts I, II and III.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **17** **-** **Part I** **-~-~-**

 

“As most of the population suffers through life, barely surviving, disappointed and confused day after day, hopeless, wondering what happened to their strong and beautiful country, it is in the media's power to restore, if not some of our quality of life, at least a bit of our peace of mind.”

 

(Steven Van Zandt, American musician)

 

I'm sure that any public figure can attest that the media can be either your best friend or your worst foe, depending on the day. During my lifetime there was more than one article about me published that had me curse the _Prophet_ and their star reporter Rita Skeeter. But whenever I got frustrated about Skeeter, someone would gently remind me that without her my life could have turned out very different. Besides, whatever she wrote would be forgotten by the next day when another of Skeeter's articles would take hold of the public's attention. While there was still the chance that a topic—a scandal the public needed to know, as Rita called it—could require two to three days until it was thoroughly exhausted even for Skeeter's writing skills, they could never top the events of Halloween in 1981. So many things had happened in twenty-four hours that Rita and the _Prophet_ needed a whole week to catch up with the news. But find out yourselves how it played out.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**1st November 1981**

 

At half past seven, Tom, Severus and I were still sitting together on the sofa when my stomach demanded to be filled. While neither of the two adults were particularly hungry, they knew that they needed to eat something to have enough energy for the busy day ahead of them. Tom would need his strength to sort out the mess Greyback's attack and my father's suicide mission had caused and Severus would need to keep himself together as I was likely to still ask about my parents.

 

Severus just finished feeding me half of my porridge, when Bellatrix ran into the small dining room, “Don't worry Harry-kins, your Aunti Bella is here,” she yelled in a high voice as she quickly walked towards me. Picking me up from the transfigured high chair, she hugged me close. “Idiotic cousin,” she mumbled, “I'll be your godmother in his stead. You won't wish for anything.”

 

Severus was about to get up and save me from being hugged to death, when Tom laid a calming hand on his shoulder. “She needs this,” he said softly. While her cousin was not dead, he was in a coma. And her being here instead of being at St Mungo's to help wake Sirius must mean that even she did not know how to wake him.

 

“I'll be the perfect fairy godmother to you, Harry-kins,” she said to me, cuddling me even closer to her bosom.

 

“Maybe you can begin by feeding him the rest of his porridge?” Tom softly suggested, thus saving me from being cuddled to death.

 

Taking the chair to the left of my high chair, she began to feed me. To my right, Severus watched us with a sceptical eye, but when he saw that I was eating just fine, he concentrated on his own food, not tasting anything as he dutifully swallowed each bite of jam and toast.

 

The sound of owl wings diverted Severus' attention from his plate. After relieving the bird of its burden and paying the usual one Knut, Tom opened the newspaper, curious how much the media had learned of the events that changed my life so dramatically. The headline on the first November read:

 

_**~Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom Hospitalized** _

 

_**An article by Rita Skeeter~** _

 

The headline suggested that while Rita Skeeter knew that something did happen, she—as of now—was only aware of the tip of the figurative iceberg.

 

_**~My Dear Readers,** _

 

_**Last night, seriously injured Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom were brought into the Emergency Ward of St. Mungo's by their fellow Auror Sirius Black and Healer Bellatrix Lestrange. At the moment, not much is known about the cause of their injuries. When questioned, the Auror Office did not divulge any information; only stating that both Aurors had been off-duty on Halloween. The same applies for Auror Black and Healer Lestrange.** _

 

_**If the Longbottoms have not been injured while on duty, one must wonder what they were doing to end up in the Emergency Ward? Were they trying to perform a Dark Magic ritual on the sacred night of Samhain that went horribly wrong? With the Black family's well-known love for the Dark Arts it wouldn't be surprising if this was the case. However, an outstanding reporter like I won't fob you off with mere speculations. After researching and investigating until the wee hours of the night, I was able to find out the real cause for the Longbottoms' injuries.** _

 

_**Apparently, the Longbottoms, together with Auror Sirius Black and Healer Bellatrix Lestrange, were attending a Halloween party. At least three children were also present: one year olds Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. They were attacked during the late afternoon. Who they were attacked by and why is still unknown. But do not fear, I'll keep investigating until I can give you all the facts.** _

 

_**So far, I ascertained that the Longbottoms were the only gravely injured parties and that all three children are unharmed as Narcissa Malfoy and Lily Potter were able to escape via the Floo just as the attack started. Still, poor Neville Longbottom was totally distraught as he wailed loudly in his grandmother's, Augusta Longbottom, lap as she waited in St. Mungo's for news on her son and daughter-in-law. Based on the facial expressions on her and the Healer-in-charge's faces, Frank and Alice Longbottom won't be discharged any time soon.** _

 

_**Stay tuned for tomorrow's issue where more details will be revealed!** _

 

_**Yours faithful,** _

 

_**Rita Skeeter,** _

 

_**who won't rest until she brings you the full story.~** _

 

Wordlessly, Tom handed the paper over to Severus, Bellatrix leaning over me to read the paper together with him.

 

“How did she find out what happened?” Severus asked. “I thought we wanted to keep the attack a secret until we found out all the details?” Severus was especially concerned about how the werewolves knew that the Longbottoms would be in my family's house.

 

“This is something I'll try to find out today,” Tom stated tiredly. The list of things he needed to do today seemed to grow longer and longer with every hour that passed.

 

“Who is this Skeeter woman anyway?” Bella asked, not having heard of the woman before.

 

“She is a relative new and thus unknown reporter at the _Prophet_. So far, she mainly wrote gossip columns. Most of it utter rubbish and half-truths,” Tom answered, having to be up-to-date with the _Prophet_ reporters due to his position as Lord Slytherin.

 

“If she continues to write about the attack, she will not be unknown anymore,” Bella stated.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**2nd November 1981**

 

As Bella predicted the day before, Skeeter did continue to write more about the Halloween attack, making a name for herself by revealing the events that destroyed the life of my family to the public.

 

_**~Lily Potter Killed During Werewolf Attack** _

 

_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

 

_**My Dear Readers,** _

 

_**I'm happy to announce that today I can reveal to you the full-uncut story about the attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom during Halloween. The two Aurors were attacked while they and their child Neville attended a Halloween party hosted at the home of their fellow Auror James Potter. Other invited guest were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy with their son Draco and the godfathers of James and Lily Potter's son Harry, Severus Snape and Sirius Black.** _

 

_**While everyone was enjoying pumpkin pastries, eight rogue werewolves lead by the infamous Fenrir Greyback broke into the Potter's home. The mothers instantly reacted to protect their sons. Lily Potter and Narcissa Malfoy brought them to the safety of Malfoy Manor via the Floo Network. While Narcissa Malfoy stayed behind to take care of the scared children, Lily Potter returned to her home to help the other guests in their fight against the blood-hungry rogues. This decision on Mrs Potter's part turned out to be lethal.** _

 

_**Enraged that Lily Potter 'stole' the children from him, Fenrir Greyback's beta made her his prime target of attack. In contrast to the majority of her guests, Lily Potter was not a trained fighter, her strength lying in Charms. Against such a fight-experienced opponent, she had no chance of winning. It was not long until the beta inflicted the perilous wound. By the time help arrived, it was too late to save Mrs Potter's life.** _

 

_**Besides Lily Potter, Frank and Alice Longbottom were the only persons with serious injuries. While the Auror Office did not want to admit it, more than one Auror said that the Longbottoms had been explicitly targeted because Frank Longbottom had injured Fenrir Greyback's mate not so long ago. One Auror who wants to stay anonymous told me in confidence that he is afraid to go on missions that involve rogue werewolves. He fears that Greyback and his pack will hunt his family in revenge. “Some nights, I wake up and run into my little girl's room just to make sure that Greyback and his friends have not kidnapped or turned her.”** _

 

_**And as we saw during Halloween, this Auror's fears were justified. Poor little Harry, losing his mother at such a young age. I'm sure that he is still crying for his mummy to come back to him. And let us not forget poor Neville Longbottom, whose parents are both still alive but their condition is currently so critical that the Healers cannot say if they'll ever recover.** _

 

_**Yours faithful,** _

 

_**Rita Skeeter,** _

 

_**who uncovers the truth for you.~** _

 

“She sure is doing a good job at making the public fear for their lives,” Severus commented, as he finished reading Skeeter's newest article, throwing the paper away from him in disgust. The way she described my mother's death was disgusting.

 

Severus' eyes had dark circles from lack of sleep. While I was not ' _crying for_ _my_ _mummy to come back to_ _me_ ' as Skeeter had put it, I was still asking for my parents, mostly for my mother. It broke Severus' heart every time I called for either of them as I held close to my plush lion.

 

“I'm more afraid that she will destroy the acceptance of werewolves and Dark Arts that I fought so hard to achieve,” Tom answered. He too was exhausted. Yesterday he had spent all morning and the early afternoon running around the Auror office to sort out the mess of my father's attack on Fenrir's camp, personally visiting the Longbottoms and Sirius in the hospital and making the first arrangements for my parents' funeral. Then, in the late afternoon he, Lucius, Severus and the Lestranges discussed what actions they should take next, while Nagini was tasked to entertain me once again.

 

The fact that Peter Pettigrew had been the one to sell out my parents had enraged everyone, especially Severus. When the Lestrange brothers admitted that so far they had been unable to find him, Severus wanted to go and hunt down the rat himself. But opposed to my father, a gentle reminder from Bellatrix made him think rationally again. “Harry already lost both of his parents and one of his godfathers is in a coma, unlikely to wake up anytime soon,” Bellatrix said, hurt clear in her voice as she laid a comforting hand on Severus shoulder. “He does not need his remaining godfather to abandon him too.”

 

“My wife is right,” Rodolphus said. “Stay here and take care of Harry and let me and Rabastan hunt down Pettigrew. Once we capture him, we'll bring him to the dungeons where you can torture him to your heart's content.”

 

“You are aware that Pettigrew is a rat Animagus?” Severus asked.

 

“No, we did not know this,” Rodolphus admitted. “It would explain why we were unable to find him. _Yet_ ,” he stressed.

 

“How did Skeeter find out about the attack?” Lucius asked, changing the subject.

 

“My best guess is that she must have overheard part of Sirius talk with Augusta when he brought in the Longbottoms,” Tom told them.

 

“Since the attack is public knowledge, I would advise that we let the news of Lily's and James' death out. As long as we do not let it leak that we know that Pettigrew sold them out, the bastard may even show up to their funeral to keep up the pretence that he is still on our side,” Lucius suggested.

 

“They're bound to find out about it sooner or later,” Bellatrix soothingly whispered into Severus' ear.

 

“I know,” he answered softly, still not over the death of his best friend.

 

“For now, let's only leak out Lily's death. Remus is still abroad. I do not want him to find out about his best friend's death and his lover's coma from the newspaper,” Tom said. “Besides, the Auror Office has still not completely sorted out the attack on Greyback's camp.”

 

So while, they had expected my mother's death to make today's front-page news, they had hoped that it would be written in a more respectful way.

 

“Play wiff Prewwy?” I asked, interrupting the morbid atmosphere of the breakfast table.

 

“Pretty cannot play with you today, Harry,” Tom calmly answered.

 

“Play wiff mummy?” I asked.

 

“Mummy can't play with you either,” Tom calmly stated. It hurt him to see my face falter in sadness. “Draco and Narcissa will play with you today.”

 

“Dwaco play wiff me?” I asked, looking up.

 

“Yes, Draco is playing with you today. He should arrive every minute.”

 

“Play wiff Dwaco,” I excitedly said, my lips lifting up again, making Tom and Severus' hearts ache a little less. And like commanded, the Floo in the Entrance Hall came to life.

 

“See, Draco is already in the manor,” Tom said.

 

“Dwaco, Dwaco,” I called out impatiently, wanting to play with my friend, my parents forgotten for the time being.

 

Once I was out of the room, Severus asked, “Who is Pretty?”

 

“Nagini,” Tom answered, the epitome of calmness.

 

“Nagini? As in your very poisonous snake, who could easily strangle and then eat Harry. That Nagini?” Severus asked, shocked. He expected it to be the strange name of a house-elf or maybe of a soft toy Tom had animated for me. But never in a million years had he expected it to be Lord Slytherin's familiar.

 

“Of course, it is my snake Nagini. Harry really loves her and she loves when he calls her pretty. She even lets him ride on her back.”

 

“That's insane and dangerous,” he roared, standing up from his chair and swiftly strode to Tom's side. “What if Harry does something she dislikes?” Severus questioned, grabbing Tom by his shirt. He did not care that he was speaking this harshly to Lord Slytherin. All he cared about at this moment was my safety.

 

“Then she'll tell him to stop.”

 

“Because Harry will understand what she says,” Severus countered, his grip on Tom's shirt tightening. The calmness Tom radiated making him even angrier.

 

“He does,” Tom answered, having decided that he could trust Severus with the fact that I was a Parselmonth.

 

“He what?” Severus asked, not believing his ears as his grip on Tom's shirt loosened.

 

“Harry is a Parselmouth, Severus,” Tom explained, smoothing down the wrinkles in his dress-shirt. “It is perfectly safe for him to be around Nagini. And even if he was not a speaker, Nagini knows that Harry is my fiancé and thus would never hurt him. Trust me, old friend,” Tom said, laying a comforting hand on Severus shoulder. A gesture that seemed to have taken place for the nth time in the last days, “I would never do anything that would risk Harry's life. I may not have spent much time with him, but he already captured my heart,” he admitted.

 

After some minutes of silence, Tom spoke up again, “I know that it will hurt Harry but we really need to explain to him that his parents are dead. We cannot go on saying that his parents are away or have no time for him whenever he askes for them. I talked with Bellatrix about it. She believes that you are the best suited person to explain it to Harry. He'll need someone he trusts and is comfortable with.”

 

“And you believe that I know what to say? I can barely believe that Lily is gone myself? How shall I explain it to Harry?” Severus cried out. He was hurting, not only for himself but also for me.

 

“I'm here for you Severus. Lucius, Bellatrix and your other friends too. Narcissa will look after Harry today, and I'll watch him tonight. Take the time to try and work through your own grief, throw plates, shatter vases or break down and cry in the privacy of your room, I don't care. And if you need help to find the right words, Bellatrix will guide you.”

 

“Why can't she tell Harry?” Severus asked. “She's the Healer!” he screamed.

 

“Because you're the person Harry trusts the most. You're like a second father to him,” Tom spoke what he'd believed to be true, unintentionally making Severus collapse to his feet.

 

_'_ _Sometimes I could swear that Harry likes you more than James_ _'_ my mother's words echoed in Severus' mind. They were the last words she'd spoken to him. Words that made his heart ache in sorrow and grief. _Why? Oh why did Lily have to come back?_

 

“Sh, Severus, sh. It's okay. You're not alone,” Tom tried to comfort his friend as he knelt down next to my godfather. “We're all going through this together.”

 

It took Tom nearly ten minutes before Severus was calm enough to get up. “I'll be in my room,” he said, hurriedly leaving the room, tears starting to run down his face again.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**3rd November 1981**

 

Severus did not want to get up. He'd cried, screamed, punched the walls and his pillows, went to a Muggle bookshop to buy a children's book on grieving as well as a guidebook on how to explain death to young children, visited Bellatrix after skimming through his new books, cried and screamed some more before he'd taken a vial of Dreamless Sleep Potion yesterday evening.

 

And now, it was time to tell me that my parents were dead. _But not before we had some breakfast,_ Severus thought, trying to delay the inevitable. And even once breakfast was over, he found a reason to procrastinate again. “The books suggests the Harry having something familiar will help. I'll go to Lily's house to get his toys and other things. Maybe his blanket will bring him comfort,” he said.

 

Both Severus and Tom were aware that this was not the real reason, but Tom wanted to give Severus all the time he needed. Losing Lily was hard enough on him without the burden of having to be strong for me, so Tom said, “I think his blanket may help. And he still has his lion.” He pointed out the plush toy he gave me that I was still religiously holding on to.

 

“I'll be going. Will you look after Harry?”

 

“I can watch him until lunchtime,” Tom answered, only asking me if I wanted to play with Pretty today once Severus had left. He did not want to agitate my godfather any more than he already was.

 

Going back to my parents' house hurt. It hurt so much that Severus fell down on his knees as he stepped out of the Floo. He thought that he had no more tears left to cry, but just to be there, at the exact same spot where his beloved friend of many years died such a cruel death opened up the flood gates. It took Severus nearly thirty minutes to be in control of his emotions again. Wiping the wetness off of his face, he got up on shaking knees. Slowly, he walked up the stairs to the first floor, grateful that at least this part of the house was untouched from the attack.

 

Slowly he walked around my room, touching random toys. When he finished his circle around the room, he pulled out his wand and shrunk nearly everything in my room, before he packed it in a trunk he'd brought with him. Once this task was complete, he left my room intending to leave the house, but in the end his feet stopped him in front of my parents' door. Hesitantly, he stretched out his right hand to open the door.

 

When he entered, he did not know why he was here. Only after his eyes landed on the vanity table, did he know what he'd been searching for; a token of my mother. Gingerly, like it would vanish if he touched it for too long, he picked up the brush and comb set he'd given my mother on her seventeenth birthday. They were nothing remarkable, made out of wood instead of some expensive material, like silver. But still, when he saw the set in the shop in Muggle London, he had immediately thought of my mother. My father and Sirius had joked about the sunflower carved into the handle of the comb and brush, but Severus and mum had just smiled at each other. My mother may have been named after the lily flower, but this did not mean that it was also her favourite flower.

 

As an afterthought he also picked up my mother's favourite pendant. It was too feminine for him to wear. But on a long chain, hidden beneath his clothes, no one would be the wiser about the memento of my mother he would be wearing for the rest of his life. With a heavy heart, he left my parents' bedroom, closing the door and with it the past.

 

_The only thing that should matter to_ _me_ _from now on should be the future,_ he thought and belatedly remembered that it would be a good idea to also check my father's study for any important documents. When he tried to open the desk drawers, he did not know if he should be happy or annoyed about the protection wards he encountered. On the one hand, dismantling them would give him a reason to stall going back to Slytherin Manor for some more hours. On the other hand, he did not want to end up with pink hair and neon green skin for the next week as my father was sure to have added some pranks into his ward mix. _Better let Lupin handle it when he returns,_ he thought, only now realising that Remus was in nearly the same position as he. He too had lost his best friend, and on top of it his lover was currently in St Mungo's with no one knowing if he'll ever wake up again. _At least_ _one person will somewhat_ _understand what I'm feeling,_ Severus thought with a heavy heart as he left my old home to Floo to Spinner's End.

 

Just as I was leaving my parents' home, Severus too was leaving his own family home behind to live in Slytherin Manor with me. _Good riddance,_ Severus thought as he looked around the living room, severely tempted to set the house on fire. Opposed to the river bank and playing ground further down the street, this place did not hold any good memories for him. There, at the door frame to the kitchen his mother had been regularly beaten when she was not fast enough in bringing his father the next bottle of booze. Here, at bottom of the stairs Severus had often lain as a child with his arms held protectively in front of him when he had not been fast enough in escaping upstairs to his room. And there, hidden behind the bookshelves was the door that led to the tinny potions lab his mother had created. The only sanctuary in the whole godforsaken house. Though sanctuary may be a too nice word for it. Damage limiter may be more appropriate as the only potions his mother brewed in the lab were healing potions and she only dared to go down there when his father was knocked out from the booze.

 

_Nature versus nurture_. The thought suddenly entered Severus mind as he was packing his beloved books. _What if I end up to be exactly_ _like_ _my father?_ he feared. _Harry does not deserve such a_ _childhood_ _._ _Shit! What if I'm not a good parental figure?_ he doubted himself. _What if Harry_ _is_ _picked on by his classmates because he's an orphan? What if he turns out to be a spoiled brat?_ _What if he_ _is_ _permanently traumatised?_ These and other fears were plaguing Severus as he stood in the one place that should have been full of fond childhood memories but instead were connected with fear and distaste.

 

Holding onto my mother's pendant in his pocket, he swore, _I promise you, Lily, I will do my uttermost best to make Harry's childhood as happy as possible!_ _But before that I'll need to break his heart,_ he thought with an aching heart as he prepared himself to finally explaining to me that my parents were dead, never to return to me.

 

Tom did not comment on how long it had taken Severus to pack everything when my godfather entered Tom's study. With slitted eyes, Severus watched as I played with Nagini in front of the fireplace. Tom had enchanted some soap bubbles to slowly fall down and Nagini and I were competing to destroy the bubbles first. As Nagini did not want to get too wet, I was destroying nearly every soap bubble, laughing whenever a bubble busted at the touch of my hand and covered it in soap and water.

 

While my laughter helped to ease Severus' fears, he was still watching the scene with mistrust. It was only when I started to talk to Nagini that he could relax enough to move his eyes away from me for a short while. Hearing with his own ears how I spoke Parseltongue was certainly reassuring, even it did not completely erase his uneasiness

 

“ _Too slow,_ _P_ _retty,”_ I teased Nagini.

 

“ _You're just better than I am,”_ Nagini answered.

 

“ _You'll get better, Pretty,”_ I wisely said to her, petting her head. Severus nearly received a heart attack when Nagini leaned even closer to me, her head lying on my shoulder so that I could easily reach her. Quickly, Severus looked at Tom, only to find that his Lord was totally absorbed in his paperwork. But the image was misleading. While Tom was not looking at me and Nagini, he was still keenly listening to our conversation. And so, when I told Nagini a moment later, “ _Pretty, I need the bathroom,”_ he looked up and informed Severus, “Harry needs to go to the bathroom.”

 

Perplexed, Severus moved his eyes away from where I was sitting. _How does he know this?_ Severus wondered.

 

“Harry just informed Nagini,” Tom explained for Severus' benefit when he saw the bewildered look on his friend's face.

 

“Come, Harry, I'll go to the bathroom with you,” Severus said, stepping closer.

 

“Sev,” I happily greeted my godfather, not having noticed him before. “Did you bwing mummy and daddy wiff you?” I asked, looking around as Severus picked me up into his arms. Both men sighed at my innocent question. It was time that Severus explained to me that my parents were dead.

 

“Harry,” Severus said softly as he carried me towards the bathroom, “Your mummy and daddy are both very sorry,” he began and then as gently as possible explained to me that my parents had not wanted to leave me, but they had no choice. Their hearts had stopped beating, he explained, moving my hand over our still beating hearts to illustrate his point. He tried to use ghosts to make me understand that my parents are still somehow there, always watching over me and staying in my heart, though they would not physically be with me and I would be unable to see them.

 

While I was asking the expected question of “When will they return to me?” and cried in his arms, by the end of his explanation, Severus found me still reasonably calm enough to continue to explain what would happen during their funeral. _Better quickly remove the plaster,_ Severus thought. He did not want to hurt and confuse me even more but he knew that he needed to tell me everything before he could work on making me happy again.

 

“Go wiff mummy and daddy?” I asked, after Severus explained that when my parents' coffins would be lowered to the ground they would be able to go to another world from where they could watch over me.

 

“No, Harry, you cannot go with them. Your heart is still beating, see?” Severus softly asked. Once alone, he would need a glass of Firewhisky. Or two. Or even the whole bottle. “But if you want, you can give them something to take with them. Maybe you want to draw a picture for them?” he asked softly.

 

“Dwaw pictuwe?” I asked, unsure if I should do it.

 

“You still have time to decide, Harry.”

 

“Okay,” I said yawning, getting tired and cuddling closer to Severus. The ten minute explanation had not only emotionally exhausted Severus but also me.

 

“Let's get you into bed. It's your naptime anyway.”

 

“Kay,” I said, closing my eyes.

 

It was late afternoon when I woke up again. Luckily for Severus, the first thing I did was to ask if I could play with Nagini. Reluctantly he agreed, still not completely trusting that I would be safe around her.

 

“Is he?” Severus questioned, when Tom finally finished with his correspondence for the day. I'd been riding on Nagini's back for the last twenty minutes, only speaking in Parseltongue.

 

“No,” Tom answered, not needing Severus to finish his question. “He is mostly saying things like 'faster', 'go there' and of course 'Pretty'. I did not hear him call for them once today, at least while he was talking to Nagini.”

 

The answer pacified Severus. He had feared that while I had been playing with Nagini, I called for my mother or father without him understanding that I was asking for them.

 

“I am actually starting to wonder if Harry is able to say a sentence in Parseltongue that does not include the word 'Pretty'. Though, I have to admit that Harry's speech is far more advanced when he speaks in Parseltongue. It's fascinating that he can speak long sentences in Parseltongue while only saying word groups when he repeats the same sentence in English,” Tom said to Severus.

 

“ _Is your heart still beating, Pretty?”_ I suddenly asked Nagini, Tom closed his eyes. It would have been too good if I had just accepted Severus' explanation without starting to ask questions later.

 

“ _It is,”_ Nagini answered.

 

“ _I cannot feel it._ ”

 

“It's a bit further up her back,” Tom said in English for Severus' sake, getting up from his chair to show me where it was. “See, it's right here,” he said, as he picked me up in his arms so that I could reach Nagini's heart without hurting the snake by sitting too close to her head.

 

“It's beating slower ffan Sev's,” I told him.

 

“That's because Nagini is a snake and Severus is a human,” Tom explained, while Severus was happy to let Tom handle the situation for once.

 

“See, my heart is also beating faster than Nagini's,” he said as he let me feel his heartbeat.

 

“Mummy's and daddy's heawt should beat faster too. FFey awe human too,” I childishly reasoned.

 

Tom looked at Severus for guidance. After a short hesitation Severus nodded. “Is it okay if I Apparate with you to your mummy's body?” Tom asked. He could have just walked with me to the room where my mother's body was stored for now, but he did not want me to know that her body was so close by, thus he Apparated with me to the room inside his manor. Both men could only hope that touching my mother's body and not finding a heartbeat would help me to accept my parents' deaths instead of further unsettling or worse, traumatising me.

 

_A_ _t least her face was not severely disfigured,_ Tom thought gratefully and hoped that I would not ask to see my father's body just yet. Even with magic, it would take some time before his mutilated face and body could be restored to how it was before he so stupidly walked into Greyback's camp.

 

“Mummy,” I cried happily when we arrived in the new room and I saw her body lying on a bed. Setting me down on the bed with her, Tom watched how I eagerly crawled to her chest, crying as I desperately searched for a heartbeat and found none. “Why?” I asked. “Mummy is human. Mummy's heawt fastew ffan Pwetty's!” I wailed in desperation, not even registering that her body was cold.

 

“Shh, Harry. I'm here for you,” Tom tried to calm me as he rubbed my back in comfort, allowing me to cry out all the sadness I felt as I finally realised what Severus had tried to tell me before.

 

While Tom took care of me, Severus was left alone in Tom's study. There, at the edge of the table he saw today's Prophet. Once he finished reading the front-page article he knew why Tom had the good foresight to pocket the paper during breakfast after he read today's headline. If Severus had read it this morning, he would have been too angry with Skeeter to tell me about my parents' death today.

 

_**~Is There No End to the Halloween Tragedy?** _

 

_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

 

_**My Dear Readers,** _

 

_**When I first heard that Peter Pettigrew should be responsible for the werewolf attack at the Potter house, I could not believe my ears. Pettigrew is the best friend of James Potter and went to school with his wife Lily Potter. How should someone so close to the Potters wish them, their child, Harry, and their friends any harm? But the sad truth, my readers, is that it was Peter Pettigrew that informed Fenrir Greyback where he could find the Potters and Longbottoms on Halloween night.** _

 

_**The Auror Office did not want to comment whether Pettigrew betrayed the Potters of his own free will or if he was forced to reveal the information. However, I firmly believed that he betrayed them. Why else would some of the top Aurors be currently hunting for him if he were not guilty?** _

 

“ _ **He was always only thinking about his own hide. I knew that he was up to no good. Always cringing his hands in this creepy way, you know?” A Hogwarts classmate of the Potters and Pettigrew told me. No wonder that Pettigrew did not have the decency to warn his 'best friend' about the coming attack or at least ensure that the poor children would not come to any harm. What must he have been thinking to risk the lives of so many people only to save his own life?**_

 

_**How must poor James Potter be feeling? His wife dead and his friends hospitalized because his friend sold them out! I tried to reach James Potter for a statement, however he and little Harry seemed to have gone into hiding together with Peter Pettigrew's other so-called best friends Aurors Sirius Black and Ambassador Remus Lupin.** _

 

_**Yours faithful,** _

 

_**Rita Skeeter~** _

 

_Even with the knowledge that Peter was an Animagus, the Lestrange brothers still had no luck with tracking down the rat. And if this was not_ _bad_ _enough, Skeeter somehow found out about Pettigrew_ _'_ _s involvement. Now the betraying rat would know that they were out to hunt him and would_ _be_ _even more careful to stay under the radar,_ Severus thought angrily, crumpling the newspaper in his hands.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**AN:** Part 2 is coming in some days, while part 3 will take a bit more time.


	21. Chapter 17 - Part II

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things~**_ , “ _Parseltongue”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** Enjoy the second part of th e  very Skeeter-heavy chapter.  Because chapter  17  is getting longer and longer, there will be a third part.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by StillWatersAreDeep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 17 –** **Part II** **-~-~-**

** 4th November 1981 **

  


Tom and Severus were emotionally exhausted from the events of the previous day as they sat down for breakfast. The latter was immensely grateful that Tom had been the one to show my mother's dead body to me. Being the one to explain that my parents were dead had been hard enough for him.

  


I had been able to find some rest after I laid my head on Severus' chest, hearing and feeling his heart beat under my ear reassuring me that Severus was still alive and here with me. Severus, though, was so unused to sharing his bed with another person that he had trouble falling asleep. Add to it that I was a restless sleeper as a child and that my new fascination for having to feel or hear other people's heart beat made him worry for my mental health.

  


“It will pass,” Tom told Severus as I sat in Lord Slytherin's lap, wanting to hear his heartbeat. “He's just getting used to the concept of death and is holding on to your explanation of a beating heart to distinguish between life and death. Once he realizes that neither of us will die any time soon and leave him all alone, he'll stop.”

  


“We can only hope so,” was Severus' tired reply. He motioned for Tom to hand him today's issue of the _Prophet_. _Merlin knew what they were writing today._

  


“After yesterday's article I need the public to have some good news for a change,” Tom explained as he passed the newspaper to Severus.

  


_**~Fenrir Greyback Finally Killed!** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**Some good news at last! The feared rogue werewolves, Fenrir Greyback and his beta, were finally killed. Not two days ago I reported to you how Fenrir Greyback and some of his pack members attacked the Potters' home, resulting in the death of Lily Potter and the hospitalization of Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom. Today, I can finally tell you that they were punished for the crimes against the British Wizarding World they committed during the last three years.** _

  


_**The Auror Office still does not want to reveal all the details. (Don't worry, I'll get them to tell me everything.) So far, it was leaked that in the early hours of the morning on the 1st of November a group of Aurors attacked the camp of Fenrir Greyback. It was hinted that James Potter was the Auror who led the attack in retaliation of the attack on his home some hours prior.** _

  


_**The officials did not want to confirm, however my source inside the Auror department told me that it was James Potter who killed the beta who had killed his wife. So far, the Auror Office only stated that many of the Aurors who went on the mission were injured, and one was killed. Who lost his life to protect the Wizarding World from these horrible werewolves is still unclear as of now. But at least we now can all sleep more easily, not fearing our children being kidnapped and infected with lycanthropy in the middle of the night. The threat of Fenrir Greyback and his pack of rogue werewolves is over now!** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**Read 'How to identify a werewolf' on page 5. Read about Fenrir Greyback's crimes on page 2.~** _

  


In Severus' opinion Skeeter's writing style was getting worse each day, but apparently the dunderheads of the Wizarding World loved her way of writing. If it went on, he would stop reading the _Prophet_.

  


“Can I see mummy today?” I asked, when I finished eating my porridge. “I want to show her Pwetty.”

  


“Hmm,” Severus hummed, undecided. He did not want me to come attached to my mother's corpse.

  


“ _Come, Pretty. We're going to visit my mummy. She is not in the earth yet, so she cannot go and visit us. We have to go to her instead,”_ I said.

  


“It's okay, Severus,” Tom said after he heard my explanation. “Harry just wants to go to her because she cannot travel to him yet. She is not buried yet, you know?” he finished in a teasing voice in the hope to lighten the mood. I enthusiastically nodded in agreement, only stopping when Severus took hold of my hand.

  


“Don't forget to take Pretty with you,” Tom added, enjoying how Severus was unnerved by his snake, especially since Nagini had to coil around Severus to be Apparated with us. So with Nagini coiled around him, me in his arms and my lion plushy hanging from his shoulder, Severus Apparated us to the room where my mother's body lay for the time being. Since Severus would be living here for the next few years, Tom had included him into the wards, allowing him to Apparate freely inside the manor.

  


Severus and I had not left the table for long when Remus arrived at Slytherin Manor. “Good morning, my Lord,” Remus greeted Tom when a house-elf showed him into the dining room.

  


“Good morning, Remus,” Tom greeted back, motioning with his hands for Remus to take a seat at the table and serve himself if he wanted.

  


“Thank you. What is this urgent matter you wanted to talk to me about?” Remus asked as he filled his teacup, very curious about why he was here. It was extremely unusual for him to be called back home while he was on an ambassador mission. Before Tom could answer, Remus spotted the Prophet Severus left. “Greyback is dead?”

  


“He is,” Tom answered. “Read the article, I'll explain the details afterwards.”

  


“James' house was attacked?” Remus asked in surprise. Tom did not comment, letting Remus read on, waiting for the really bad news to hit him. “Lily's dead?” he asked, shocked. “I need to be there for James. And poor Harry,” he said, laying the newspaper down, not wanting to believe what he just read.

  


“Please continue,” Tom said softly, laying a comforting hand on Remus' elbow. “There is more.”

  


“More?” Remus asked, hardly believing that there could be more. Wasn't it bad enough that Lily was dead? “Frank and Alicehospitalized?” he mumbled under his breath. It was getting worse and worse. “Who was killed?” he asked cautiously, as he laid down the paper. “It was not Sirius, was it?” he feared for the worse now.

  


T om took a moment to consider his options.  _ Shall I first tell him about James' death or about Sirius  _ _ being in a _ _ coma? _ Coming to a decision, he said, “Sirius is not dead.”  Remus let out a sigh of relief. “ However, he is one of the Aurors who was seriously injured. He's currently in St Mungo's. You can see him as soon as we're done here.  But Sirius' injuries were not the reason why I called you back,” Tom began,  then paused. “It's not Lily's dea th either.” Again he pa u sed. “ You've read that James led the attack on Greyback. The truth is that it was not a planned ambushed on  Greyback's camp. James was so  distressed by Lily's death that he left in the middle of the night, collected Sirius and they both went on a suicide mission to Greyback's camp. When Severus found James' note in the mor n i n g,  he immediately informed the Auror Office. I 'm sorry,  R emus,  by the time I arrived James was already dead.”

  


“No!” Remus exclaimed, shaking his head in denial. “ This cannot be true! I was only gone for two weeks and both James and Lily are dead and Sirius, Alice and Frank are in St Mungo's?  No. ”

  


“I know that it's shocking. And I'm even sorrier that this is not the worst.”

  


“What else can there be?” Remus asked, desperate, not even noticing the hand Tom placed on his shoulder.

  


“I really would like to not overwhelm you with all of it at once. However, the news got out and I do not want you to be unprepared. When Greyback and his pack attacked James' house, their intended targets were the Longbottoms, not the Potters. So the obvious question is how Greyback knew that they would be there? Luckily Lucius was able to capture one of the werewolves. Least to say that none of us liked what he revealed.”

  


“Out with it,” Remus barked. All the suspension was making him even more anxious.

  


Complying with Remus' wish, Tom said, “Peter Pettigrew was the one that told Greyback where the Longbottoms would be on Halloween.”

  


“Peter?” Remus asked in disbelieve. “He would never have willingly betrayed any of us!”

  


“But he did,” Tom calmly answered, standing up from his seat. “However, this was not the part that angered us most,” he continued, pacing behind Remus' chair. “The one thing that really made us furious was the fact that Peter was released before the attack happened. And do you know what he did?” Tom asked rhetorically, standing still for a moment. “He wrote James a note, apologising that he caught a cold and would not be coming to the Halloween party so as not to infect the children,” Tom's voice raised as his anger increased. “He should have warned them of the attack, informed the Auror Office so that Greyback could have been captured in this perfect ambush opportunity.”

  


Getting himself back under control, Tom retook his abandoned seat. “I know that this is just too much to take all of it in now. So take your time, read the _Prophet_ articles of the last days, ask me or Lucius any questions you may have and just take some time off duty to let it all sink in and visit Sirius in the hospital. And when you're ready, we can sit down next week and discuss what to do about the current _Prophet_ articles that show werewolves in a bad light,” Tom suggested.

  


“No, I'll need something to distract me. Just give me today to see Sirius and get up-to-date with the articles and we can discuss it tomorrow,” Remus said. He was overwhelmed by all the things he'd just learned and still had trouble believing any of it had happened. A definite goal and something normal like again working for werewolf rights would keep him grounded and sane until his brain caught up with all the unreal events that had happened during his two week absence.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**5th November 1981**

  


Tom and Severus were surprised when they read the newspaper the following morning. As they planned to withhold the information of my father's death for some more days, they had hoped that Skeeter would not have anything newsworthy to write about. However, they were proved wrong.

  


_**~Sirius Black in Coma** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**The Auror Office still does not want to reveal who lost his life during the ambush on Fenrir Greyback's camp. However, I still have important news on the attack for you. While the majority of the injured Aurors could be swiftly healed by our expert Healers in St Mungo's, there is one patient who is still in a critical condition.** _

  


_**The person I'm talking about is Auror Sirius Black. He was unconscious and gravely injured when he was brought into St Mungo's four days ago. The Healers have been able to stabilize him and nearly all of his wounds are completely healed by now. However, for reasons currently unknown, the Healers are unable to wake Mr Black. “We are doing everything in our power to wake Mr Black from his coma,” the Healer-in-charge stated. “We have our best researchers looking for possible solutions and are preparing to try Muggle methods to wake him up.”** _

  


_**With Sirius Black in a coma, it is no wonder that I could not reach him for a statement about his former friend's, Peter Pettigrew, betrayal. But I would not be Rita Skeeter without getting you another statement instead. Yesterday, our ambassador Remus Lupin returned to our lovely country and on the very same evening I was able to schedule an interview with him.~** _

  


_Did Lupin reveal the news about Black's coma?_ Severus wondered. Usually the Healers at St Mungo's took the patient's confidence very seriously, and only would reveal something to the newspaper if the patient, or in Sirius' case, Remus as the emergency contact person, had given their expressive permission. To Severus it seemed like every Marauder had suddenly gone insane.

  


_**~How awful must it be for our Ambassador to come back home from his mission aboard and find that everything has changed overnight. His lover in a coma, and the wife of his best friend dead. When asked about Peter Pettigrew's betrayal, Mr Lupin tried to evade the question. He stated that he just arrived and had not the time yet to further investigate my claims. When I assured him that Pettigrew indeed did betray his friend James Potter, he told me, “Until I have the chance to ask Peter about it myself, he'll remain innocent in my eyes.” I can only hope that Peter Pettigrew is quickly arrested, so that Mr Lupin can take off the blinding glasses of friendship.** _

  


_**Of course, talking about Pettigrew also brought us to the death of Fenrir Greyback. On this topic, Mr Lupin was very talkative. As a werewolf himself, he has an inside view. “I'm as relieved as any other witch or wizard that Fenrir Greyback has finally been killed,” he told me. “You do not know how strongly I detest Greyback and his pack of rogue werewolves. Often I've tried to at least make the members of his pack see reason and return to the right path. But I think we all know how hard is it to talk sense into a gang of criminals. That's what they were. Not werewolves, but the worst kind of CRIMINALS!” he stressed. It was obvious how this matter got to his heart.** _

  


“ _ **I hope that the witches and wizards of our country are all wise enough to not let the actions of some scum make them fear werewolves in general and be prejudiced against them. Because it is not the lynathropy that makes them kill and maim. Just think back and remembered what good people with lynathropy have done for our country. There's Isolde Skycloud who makes the most delicious cakes, pies and pastries you can find in Diagon Alley. What would a wedding or birthday be without one of her cakes?” he asked. “And there's Maximilian Mintfrog, one of the best children Healers in St Mungo's.”**_

  


“ _ **And there is you,” I reminded Mr Lupin. “I still remember that the public was at first very sceptical when Lord Slytherin named you as his prime ambassador. But during the last years, you've proven that you are very talented. In six months you got the Norwegian Minister of Magic to sign the agreement on the trade of local dragon potion ingredients. Something your predecessor was unable to achieve in five years,” I pointed out, making Mr Lupin blush furiously. He seemed rather uncomfortable with so much praise, even if I find it is truly deserved.**_

  


_**But I think, my dear readers, that even without my help, Mr Lupin was able to demonstrate that even though they change into furry beasts once a month, werewolves play a very important and positive role in our society. And more importantly they should not be judged by the behaviour of some rogue werewolves that in no way represent the majority of werewolves in Britain.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter~** _

  


_At least this solves my problems from yesterday,_ Tom thought as he finished reading. While he greatly disliked that the news of Sirius' coma had been leaked, by Remus none the less, he was happy to read the last half of the front page article that showed werewolves in an as much positive light as possible.

  


When Remus arrived at the manor some hours later, Tom told him as much. It soon became very clear to Tom that Remus felt guilty and blamed himself for my parents' deaths and also for Sirius' coma. “If I had been there, I would have been able to stop them from blindly running into Greyback's camp,” he told Tom.

  


“You would not,” Tom said. “You should know from experience that when James and Sirius have something in their head, there is nothing that will stop them from going through with it.”

  


“I would have been able to make them see reason,” Remus said adamantly. It was obvious that he was desperate, even though it was too late to change anything now anyways.

  


“You wouldn't,” Tom calmly answered. “They went on this suicide mission just because Greyback's beta killed Lily. They did not wait long enough to hear that Pettigrew betrayed them. Do you really believed that you would have been able to stop them when they knew all this?” Tom questioned.

  


Remus did not answer. Deep in his heart he knew that Sirius and James would have left. The only question would have been if he went with them or not.

  


“I know that you and Severus are not the best of friends, but he lost his best friend to death just like you. If you need to talk to someone that understands what you're going through, he won't push you away,” Tom said, hoping that his words were true and Severus would at least take the time to listen to Remus. With Severus and the Marauders one never knew, especially since Lily was no longer there to mediate. But out of the Marauders, Remus was the one whose relationship with Severus was the least strained.

  


Hoping that it will help ease Remus' undeserved guilt, Tom asked,” Would you mind to finish the rest of the funeral preparations for Lily and James? I already have the bodies prepared for burial, but the whole festive around it still needs to be prepared. Cards must be sent, the headstones chosen and the flowers and food ordered.”

  


Remus accepted quickly. Seeing Sirius totally unresponsive in the hospital bed had shocked him, add all the deaths and Peter's betrayal and he was in a desperate need to feel useful. “Can I see their bodies?” he asked. He did not think that Lord Slytherin would lie about his best friend being dead, but the irrational part of his mind did not want to believe it before he saw the body.

  


“I'll Apparate you there,” Tom offered, thankful that the restoration of James' body had been finished that morning.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


In the morning, Bellatrix had visited me with the Lestrange brothers. While the latter two were giving me a very strange look when I asked to hear their heartbeats, Bellatrix readily cuddled me to her chest and pressed my ear against her bosom so that I could listen to her heart beat. After she gave her husband and brother-in-law a stern look, they also complied with my demand and let me press my ear against their chests.

  


While I happily played with the Lestranges, Severus asked Bellatrix for a short private talk. When she too assured him that my newly developed fascination of listening to other people's heartbeat would vanish in due time, Severus could watch my new behaviour more carefree. When Bellatrix also promised to sit down with Draco and Narcissa to explain my parents' death to Draco, Severus was even more grateful for her.

  


The hard part came when Draco came over for the promised play-date in the afternoon. It was breaking all of the adult's hearts when I asked Severus if I and Draco could go and visit my mother so that I could show my friend that her heart was not beating any longer. What seemed so natural to us two children was very creepy in the eyes of the adults. A fifteen and seventeen month old child visiting and touching a corpse?

  


“Mummy?” Draco asked, sounding afraid, “Your heart will not stop beating if you come with us, will it?”

  


“It won't, my little dragon,” Narcissa calmly reassured him. She deeply hoped that Draco would not get any nightmares from this.

  


“Promise?” he asked, still unsure. He loved his mummy very much, he did not want to lose her.

  


“I promise,” Narcissa answered, holding out her little pinky finger, which Draco enclosed with his much smaller hand. While I had been the one who lost both of his parents, Draco seemed to be the one more scared of the concept of death.

  


Luckily, Draco and I did not spend more than ten minutes in the presence of my mother's corpse. It took a mere minute for me to show Draco that there was no heartbeat to be found in my mother's dead body, and Draco to point out how cold her body was before the blond cuddled into his mother's chest, being comforted by the warmth her body radiated and the heartbeat he could feel underneath his hand.

  


While Narcissa comforted her son, Severus stayed close by my side as we paid our respects to my mother and one more time said goodbye to the warm smile that she always readily gave to either of us. “Will you build a castle ffith I and Dwaco?” I suddenly asked Severus.

  


“It's me. Build a castle with me and Draco,” Severus softly corrected my grammar. “And yes, I'll happily play with you.”

  


“Can I help you build the castle?” Narcissa asked, once we were back in the living room.

  


“No,” Draco and I said in unison. “The pretty princes cannot help build the castle,” Draco clarified, melting his mother's heart with his childish sweetness.

  


This was the first day I did not ask about my father. I did not even use the word 'dad' except for when I was telling Draco about my parents' death. I would still be asking about him in the weeks to come, but to everyone's relief it was not on a daily basis. However, I was still asking for my mother daily, which hurt Severus more than my father's death.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**6th November 1981**

  


“Harry, what do you think about a shopping trip?” Severus asked me the next morning. “We can buy you some new toys?” he suggested.

  


“Toys?” I asked.

  


“Yes,” Severus confirmed. “Would you like to have something new to play with?”

  


“Yes!” I happily answered.

  


“He'll also need new robes,” Tom pointed out. “Remus wrote me that the funeral will be the day after tomorrow.”

  


“Mummy and Daddy will go to ffe offew wowld soon?” I asked.

  


“Yes, they'll soon be able to go to the other world, Harry,” Severus said, keeping to the explanation from two days ago. “Two more days and they can finally cross the barrier when we lay their bodies in the ground during their funeral.”

  


“Mummy and Daddy will be happy?” I asked, clutching my lion plush toy close to me.

  


“They'll miss you terribly, but they will be happy together and will always keep a watchful eye over you.”

  


“And maybe we can look for something that they can take with them?” Tom asked.

  


“You can still draw a picture,” Severus reminded me.

  


“We can buy you new crayons. I don't think your green one is the right colour for your mother's eyes,” Tom said.

  


“Kay,” I said. “Can I have mowe juice?” I asked.

  


“Of course,” Severus answered.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


When we entered Diagon Alley we were the centre of attention. While some of it was from me and Severus being escorted by Tom and Nagini, the major reason was the front-page article Rita Skeeter published that day.

  


_**~James Potter DEAD!** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**I promised you that I would not give up until I could bring the whole truth to you. With my insistent questioning and my womanly charms, I got the Auror Office to finally reveal the causality of the attack on Fenrir Greyback's camp. I can tell you, my beloved readers, that the person that sacrificed his life could not have been anyone less deserving of death.** _

  


_**Some of you may already have a good guess of whom I am speaking of. I'm very sadden to report to you that none-other than Auror James Potter lost his life during the fight against Greyback and his pack. Poor, little Harry Potter is now an orphan at the tender age of one! How horrible it must be for the young child to lose both of his parents in two days. And as if this is not bad enough, Sirius Black, one of Harry's two godfathers, is currently in St Mungo's lying in a coma. At least poor Harry still has his remaining godfather, Severus Snape, to take care of him. We can only hope that he is not too affected by the deaths of James and Lily Potter to take proper care of young Harry.** _

  


_**I strongly suspect that James Potter only went on his final mission to kill the murderer of his beloved wife. How grief-stricken must he have been to fight to the death instead of Apparating away to the safety of St Mungo's when his injuries became too life-threatening? But maybe it was his aim to be reunited with his wife and he just wanted to take as many of the bad guys with him as possible? We'll never know as the dead cannot answer questions.** _

  


_**We at the Daily Prophet wish young Harry all the best for his future and hope that all the tragedy of his life has already past.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter~** _

  


To my great dislike, our first stop was the robe shop. Severus and I were in need of a pair of funeral robes and Tom insisted that I also get some new winter clothes. With the promise of some sweets I more or less compliantly let myself be measured and changed into different clothes for half an hour. While the seamstress was not finished with my clothes by then, even the promise of sweets did not keep me still any longer.

  


After we went to the sweet shop, we all popped into various shops up and down the alley searching for mementos I could put into my parents' coffins or just something Severus and Tom hopped would distract me from their deaths. When the staring eyes became too much, Tom and Severus decided to continue our shopping trip in the Muggle world to Nagini's great dismay. The snake wanted to come with us, saying that it was fun to accompany me.

  


“ _You know very well that the Muggles will go into hysterics if they see you coiled around me. And we both know that_ _you_ _hate it_ _when_ _I cast the Shrinking Charm on you so that you can fit into my pocket or coil around my under arm._ _And don't let me start on the Disillusion Charm which makes you itchy for days_ _,_ ” Tom reminded her.

  


“ _I want Pretty_ _to come with us_ _,”_ I added my two Knuts.

  


“Is there a problem?” Severus asked.

  


“Nagini wants to come to Muggle London with us, however she hates the Shrinking Charms and is allergic to the Disillusion Charm.”

  


“What if we let her appear to be plush toy?” Severus suggested. “Maybe we can put her in a shopping bag and cast the spell on the bag, rather than on the snake itself.”

  


“ _Pretty is coming with us?”_ I asked. I did not understand what Severus had said, but knowing my godfather I was hopeful that what he said was in my favour.

  


“Yes, she is,” Tom answered and then quickly explained Severus' suggestion to Nagini who agreed to try out the new method. Five minutes later, we walked out of the Leaky Cauldron with Nagini in a transfigured and strengthened 'Toys "R" Us' bag. A Lightweight Spell was also cast on the bag so that Tom could carry her around without his arm falling off. It was amusing to Nagini and the two adult wizards how the middle aged Muggle women found it cute that I 'tried' to talk to my new plush snake by hissing at it.

  


Our first stop was a small café Severus liked where we had some sandwiches for lunch. From there, we went to an art shop where they bought new crayons, a colouring book and other drawing materials for me. When we walked passed a window displaying family pictures, I told Nagini, _“I want such a thing for Mummy and Daddy, Pretty.”_

  


“What do you want?” Tom asked as we stopped in front of the shop.

  


“Ffis,” I said, pointing at one of the displayed photos.

  


“A photo of you and your parents?” he asked.

  


“Yes,” I cried joyfully. “And wiff Sev fow Mummy. And fow Daddy with Wemus and Siwiwus

  


“We can certainly make a photo of you and Severus for your mother,” Tom said, but hesitated when it came to one with Sirius. “I have a camera at home. We'll take a picture once we return. Okay?” he asked.

  


“Okay,” I answered, cuddling closer to Severus' chest. It was way past my usual nap time and I was getting tired.

  


“Let's return home, you can have a nap and then we'll take the pictures for your parents,” Severus said and looked for an abandoned alley from which we could Apparate back.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


While I was sleeping, Lucius visited Tom and Severus.

  


“You look like you didn't sleep at all,” Severus pointed out.

  


“Really?” Lucius asked sarcastically. “Draco was so scared by the thought of either I or Narcissa dying that he woke up screaming for us at around ten yesterday evening. Least to say, he didn't want to go back into his own bed, so Narcissa had to retire early. By the time I wanted to go to sleep, Draco had already made himself comfortable on my pillow and did not want to move over.”

  


“And you do not have like ten empty guest rooms you could have slept in instead?” Tom asked.

  


“I will not be forced out of my own bed in my own house. Not even by my own son,” was all Lucius said.

  


_Stubborn fool,_ Severus thought, but let the matter rest. “Any news on Pettigrew?” he asked instead.

  


“Unfortunately not,” Lucius admitted. “For all we know, he could have gotten on a ship in his rat form and left for the continent. And while we all would like to catch him, we cannot spare more than the Lestranges for the search. The rest have to take care of the remaining rogue werewolves before they can regroup and wreak havoc again.”

  


“Great,” Severus groaned.

  


“But at least Harry seemed to handle the topic of death better than Draco,” Lucius pointed out. While Severus looked slightly tired, he did not have dark circles underneath his eyes like Lucius.

  


“Yeah, and you do not know how grateful I am that just listening to or feeling a heartbeat is all he needs to feel secure. But most surprising is the ease with which he accepted his parents' death,” Severus told his friend.

  


“You remember that Narcissa watched after the boys when we were attacked?” Lucius asked. “She told me that opposed to Draco and Neville, Harry remained unnervingly calm in the playpen.”

  


“I wonder if his current acceptance will change after the funeral,” Tom told them. “Right now, he still can ask one of us to bring him to his parents' bodies if he wants to see them, but once we bury them, there will only be cold gravestones.”

  


“He'll see how they get lowered into the ground and with our explanation that the bodies have to be beneath the earth to pass to the other world, I believe—or just foolishly hope—that Harry can accept that the bodies are beneath the graves,” Severus said, hoping for the best.

  


“One can only hope,” Lucius commented.

  


“Which reminds me,” Tom interrupted. “We still haven't decided if Harry should see Sirius.”

  


Lucius arched an eyebrow in question, which prompted Severus to explain the matter to his friend. “We suggested that Harry put something into the caskets as a final gift to his parents. Harry told us that he would like to give them a photo of himself and their friends. He especially asked for Sirius and Remus.”

  


“If you ask me, Harry seems emotionally stable enough to visit Sirius. With your explanation of a beating heart, he should be able to understand that Sirius is not dead but just sleeping for some days.”

  


“If not weeks or months.” Tom tried to be realistic. If even Bellatrix did not know how to wake her cousin up, then it could be some time before a cure could be found.

  


“Maybe we can read Sleeping Beauty to him first?” Severus suggested.

  


“It's a good idea,” Tom agreed. “Though we'll need to explain to him that unlike Aurora Sirius cannot be woken up by a kiss.”

  


“Have they tried it?” Severus asked. “Who knows what curses the werewolves have come up with?” _And it would be perfect teasing material,_ he thought.

  


Just then, Nagini entered the room. “ _Harry is awake,”_ she informed Tom.

  


“I'll pick Harry up,” Tom said and Apparated to what was now officially my room.

  


“Tom,” I happily greeted him, holding out my hands for him to pick me up from my crib. Once I was in his arms, Tom brought me back to the living room, this time choosing to walk instead of Apparating.

  


After I drank some juice and Severus read Sleeping Beauty for me, he explained, with Tom's help, Sirius' current situation. I asked some questions for clarification, but in the end they decided that me seeing Sirius would be the best way to answer all my remaining questions.

  


“Wemus,” I joyfully greeted, waving my plush lion around when I saw Remus inside Sirius' hospital room. “You awe visiting Siwius too?” I asked.

  


“Yes, Harry, I am. Do you want to greet Sirius?” he asked, moving away from the bed to make some room for me. I nodded in agreement. “Sirius is sleeping, so don't be mad if he does not react to you,” he advised me.

  


“Don't worry, we already explained the situation to Harry before coming here,” Severus informed Remus and then moved his attention to me. “See, Harry, Sirius' heart is still beating. Just like mine and yours.”

  


“And he'll wake up again?” I asked, unsure. I was lying with me head on his chest, comforted by hearing his heart beat, as well as by the warmth his body radiated, but my Sirius lying so still was completely new and worried me.

  


“He will. We just need to figure out what the good fairy said would wake him from his sleep.”

  


“Huwwy up!” I demanded.

  


“Shall we take the photos you wanted?” Tom asked softly, holding out the camera. Severus stepped back from the bed to make room for Remus. Once Remus sat on the edge of the bed, he took me onto his lap, holding me close.

  


“Smile fow Daddy,” I demanded of both Sirius as Remus, even though only Remus could comply with my wish. Seeing that I was still happy and carefree was enough to make the adults smile.

  


“Now fow Mummy,” I said, once Tom showed us the picture he'd taken and I nodded my head in approval.

  


“I think at the window would be a good place,” Tom suggested. “Your mother will like the tree in the background.”

  


Soon, I was in Severus' arms, the two of us standing in front of the enchanted window and Tom took a photo. When he showed it to me, I shook my head, not liking it. Not seeing what was wrong with the photo, Tom humoured me and took a second one. When he showed the new one to me again, it still felt wrong to me but at least this time I knew what was missing.

  


“Tom too,” I said. “ _And Pretty_ ,” I added.

  


“Remus,” Tom asked, “will you take a photo of us?”

  


“Sure,” he said, taking the camera from Tom. “This will be your first family photo,” he joked as he took he picture.

  


When Remus showed the photo to me, I finally nodded my head in acceptance. “Mummy will like it.”

  


When my new family was about to step out of the hospital room, Remus asked, “Severus, do you have a few minutes?”

  


Having the feeling that Remus finally wanted to talk with Severus about the pain the deaths of their best friends had created, Tom said, “I'll take Harry home with me. Take your time. I'm sure I and Nagini can entertain Harry just fine.”

  


And as if on cue, I said, “Play wiff Pwetty!” as Severus moved me from his arms to Tom's, nearly dropping my plush lion in my excitement.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** The third and (hopefully) final part will be updated around X-mas and New Year.


	22. Chapter 17 - Part III

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things~**_ , “ _Parseltongue”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** Enjoy the  fina l  part of th e  very Skeeter-heavy chapter.  **Merry Christmas(/Yule/whatever you're celebrating) and a Happy New Year** **to you all** **!**

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by StillWatersAreDeep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter 17 –** **Part II** **I-~-~-**

  


**7th November 1981**

  


“Pwetty haiw!” I exclaimed when Remus entered the dining room around lunchtime. “Me too!” I said, liking the yellow and neon pink striped hair Remus had today.

  


“No, I don't think so,” Severus answered, making me pout.

  


“Don't be a spoilsport,” Tom said and waved his wand, making my hair change from black to the same yellow and neon pink of Remus' hair.

  


“Don't get wrapped around his little finger,” Severus countered, while I happily looked at my new hair colour in the reflection of the water glass.

  


“Longew!” I demanded, wanting to see my new hair with my own eyes instead of only in a reflection. Shrugging, Tom again complied with my wish and elongated my hair to shoulder length.

  


“So, Remus, how did you come across your new hairstyle?” Tom asked. He would have liked to add 'Sirius hasn't woken up and decided to prank you?' but he refrained. While it would be something Sirius would do to cheer up the mood in the hospital, he knew that Remus would have been radiating in happiness if it would have been the case.

  


“Severus here asked me to dismantle the protection spells on James' study drawer. Lucius, Solicitor Lampbank and Auror Oakslide kindly accompanied me as witnesses. I already handed over the wills to Lampbank so that he could get all the paperwork with the ministry and Gringotts done. This envelope had your name on it, my Lord,” Remus said and handed over said object. “Do you know what it is?” he asked curiously.

  


“I have a good idea,” Tom answered and quickly peaked inside to confirm his suspicion that it was our engagement contract. “Will you hold on to it?” he asked and handed it over towards Severus.

  


This made Remus raise an eyebrow in curiosity. _What_ _could_ _be inside the envelop_ _e_ _that_ _would_ _make him want to give it away so fast?_ _Maybe I should have peaked inside before handing it over?_

  


“You'll know the content in due time,” Tom said when he noticed where Remus' thoughts were heading. “It's just better if I do not hold on to all the copies.”

  


“You still haven't told us how you came upon your hair,” Severus reminded him, wanting to take Remus' attention away from the envelope. “I thought you’d know how to avoid all of James’ charms.”

  


“Yes, but James had interwoven this particular prank so nicely with the others that it was either this,” he tugged as his hair, “for two days or neon blue and red for a week. I obviously chose the lesser evil.”

  


“Blue and red would have suited you better,” Severus joked.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


“Wow, that was fast,” Severus commented when three Gringotts owls and one Ministry owl came to Slytherin Manor in the late afternoon. After relieving the birds from their letters, Severus let me feed them an Owl treat each, while he read the letters addressed to him and myself.

  


_**~Dear Mr Severus Snape,** _

  


_**The Last Wills of James and Lily Potter were read today. There, it is stated that in case of the death of James and Lily Potter, any of their children will go into the care of their godparents. The godfathers of their only son, Harry James Potter, are you and Mr Sirius Black. As Mr Black is currently in a coma, you gain full custody of young Harry. However, in the case that Mr Black wakes up, you'll need to share the custody of Harry with him. Further information will be owled to you if this becomes the case.** _

  


_**You have seven days to either accept or reject your new responsibilities.** _

  


_**With kind regards,** _

_**Hilda Oltping** _

_**Office of Magical Contracts~** _

  


“I'm officially Harry's guardian now,” Severus informed Tom.

  


“And James kindly left me a green pair of socks and the matching pocket watch and cufflinks set I like,” Tom in turn informed Severus of the contents of his letter.

  


“Figures,” Severus answered. “Most of the things they owned will go to Harry, and only some small knick-knacks will be distributed among their friends. Though it seems James is willing a pair of socks to everyone he knew.” Severus added, once he read through the Gringotts letter addressed to him.

  


“And I thought the old fool was the only one who had a thing for socks,” Tom commented, referring to Dumbledore and his love for sock-knitting patterns.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


With the seventh of November also came the last front page article about what transpired on the night of All Hallows Eve. While it was basically a summary of the last six articles, this time Skeeter laid her focus on me. Considering my outbursts in the future, it was a good thing that I had been too young to read the paper myself.

  


_** ~ Fairytale or Nightmare? ** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**It certainly has been a tiring and eventful week for all of us. But the one person who was most affected by everything that happened is none other than Harry Potter. If you think about all the events I reported—The rogue werewolf attack on the Potter home, the death of Lily Potter, the betrayal of Peter Pettigrew, how Fenrir Greyback was finally killed in a revenge-attack led by James Potter, Sirius Black's coma and James Potter's death—you'll see that they are all connected in one way or another to Harry James Potter.** _

  


_**While all the children of Wizarding Britain and their parents can now sleep more easily with the danger of Greyback finally gone, it is young Harry who has to pay the price for our peace at night. Poor Harry lost both his parents at the tender age of one in only one day to Fenrir Greyback and his pack. First his mother died when she tried to protect her friends against the attack of the rogue werewolves, and then his father, mad from grief, chased after the murderer of his wife with fellow Auror, and Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. While this fury driven attack resulted in the breakup of the werewolf camp, it also brought the death of Harry's only remaining parent and the coma of one of his godfathers and possible new caretakers.** _

  


_**Our dear Harry can count himself lucky that he at least still has his second godfather, Severus Snape, to take care of him. It was together with him that Harry went to St Mungo's yesterday. How strong little Harry is for visiting his godfather in St Mungo's, when it should be him who needed all the solace he could get. To poor little Harry it must feel like he is currently living a nightmare with all of his beloved ones having left him at such an early age.** _

  


_**But do not fear, my dear readers, there's still some shimmer of light for our poor little Harry. My trustworthy informant told me that Severus Snape, and therefore Harry, is now living in Slytherin Manor. Maybe living with Lord Slytherin will give Harry's current nightmare a fairytale ending? Based on the fact that our very busy Lord took time off his packed schedule to accompany Harry and his godfather to St Mungo's and “take Harry home with [him]”.** _

  


_**But this was not the only time Harry was seen with our Lord. Just hours before their trip to St Mungo's, Lord Slytherin had been accompanying him on a shopping trip to Diagon Alley (see picture). One has to wonder why Lord Slytherin has taken such an interest in young Harry? Is it just the want to be there for the orphaned son of his second in command, or is there something more going on? And if yes, is it related to our dear Harry or to his new guardian Severus Snape?** _

  


_**We at the Daily Prophet hope the best for Harry and that he may find happiness again in the future.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter,** _

  


_**who will continue to keep a watchful eye on our dear Harry.~** _

  


While the article did not show me in a bad light, Tom and Severus both hated how Skeeter repeatedly used 'our dear Harry' like I was public property and each and every witch and wizard had the right to know what was happening in my life. But what worried Tom more was how she was able to quote him. When he said that he would take me home, we had been about to leave Sirius' room in St Mungo's and while the door was already open, he had not seen anyone close enough to hear his words. _I'll need to keep a closer eye on her,_ Tom decided, just in case Skeeter turned out to be a problem.

  


Tomorrow we would finally be able to lay my parents to rest. No reporters permitted.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Friday, 1st January 1982**

  


After her week of juicy articles last November, the new stories Rita Skeeter published were not as spectacular and attention gaining as she would have liked. But that all changed at the beginning of the next year when she published two articles about Tom and his love life.

  


_**~Lord Slytherin of the Marriage Market!** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**I'm sure that you'll be as devastated as I am about what I'm about to tell you. Our Lord celebrated his 55th birthday yesterday. And while I admit that him already being so old is shocking, it is not what you should be devastated about. He still looks like a very hot twenty-three year old young man as you can assure yourself from the picture on the right. Even my colleagues from 'Witch Weekly' are regularly trying to get him to pose for a special beach issue, if you understand what I'm talking about.** _

  


_**No, the really shocking news is not our beloved Lord's age, but the fact that he is already attached. I'm sure you remember all the interviews he gave over the last years where his answer to the question if his heart was currently taken always was “I'm in love with our beautiful country, Great Britain.” And questions after a possible wife and heir were always answered with “I'm still too young to worry about such things.”** _

  


_**But yesterday, when one of his guests asked him, “When will you finally start looking for a spouse?” Lord Slytherin for the first time answered with a joking “Maybe I already found someone?” as a secretive smile decorated his face. “Are you already attached?” the guest then asked for confirmation, which our Lord answered with a “Maybe.” The attentive reporter that I am, I did not miss how his eyes moved towards the direction of the wing, where his permanent house guests are living.** _

  


_**I am confident, that with his comment, he could only have referred to either of two people who recently entered his life: renowned Potions master Severus Snape and poor orphaned Harry Potter. It is highly possible that our Lord fell in love with Severus Snape while they together cared for our little Harry. But it is also as likely that the sweet and cute Harry has finally been able to break through the walls and nestled himself in our Lord's heart.** _

  


_**Either way, the poor witches of Britain now have to console themselves with Honedukes' Finest over the loss of our Lord from the marriage market.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter~~** _

  


_Who brought this woman to my party?_ Tom wondered when he read the article. He knew that he had not invited her, so only one of his guest could have brought her as their plus-one. But then, he should have just answered the question with his usual answer instead of giving in to his heart that wished to answer honestly.

  


But then, I really had no problem worming my way into his heart. First I'd asked him for some help with getting a Christmas present for Severus. Tom ended up buying him an ingredient for a potion he’d been wanting but it was my imaginative illustrations of the procurement of the **Lebien-Pogil*** roots that made them both of them smile. Or maybe it was my joyful laughter when Tom enchanted the figures I drew to move on the parchment that infected them.

  


And there was the present I gave him for his birthday. It was a photo of me, Nagini and my faithful plush lion smiling into the camera. And while the picture was cute enough on its own, the gypsum frame I coloured for him made his smile even wider. “I made it look just like Pretty's scales,” I informed him, finally being able to pronounce the 'R' and 'Th' correctly.

  


“Thank you, Harry. It is beautiful. I'll place it on my study desk.” As my smile grew with his answer, his smile grew too.

  


And of course, there was also the event that happened about an hour before the guest asked him about a potential spouse. It was already close to my bedtime and Severus, not liking to be in the same room with so many people, offered to watch after me, relieving Nagini and the house-elf from their babysitting duties. But me being me, I did not want to go to sleep until Tom—and not Severus—told me a bedtime story. While Severus was steadfastly declining my wish, patiently explaining to me that Tom could not read to me today as he had important guests to entertain, Nagini was far more easily persuaded to go and fetch Tom for me.

  


Luckily, all of the guests were afraid of Nagini and made way for her when she entered the ballroom. When she repeated my wish to Tom, he quickly made an excuse, pointing at Nagini and saying that he would be back soon.

  


_Oh, yes. Certainly wrapped around his little finger,_ Severus thought when Tom entered my bedroom and began to tell me a short tale. Within three minutes I had entered the land of dreams, my mind continuing the story Tom started.

  


As Tom laid the Prophet aside, he wondered why Skeeter had not mentioned him leaving his own party for about fifteen minutes. Based on her other rumour based articles, Nagini's entrance would have been at least mentioned in her article about him. _So she must have arrived after Nagini came to fetch me,_ Tom mused. _This will certainly make it easier to track down the person who brought her to the party._

  


_Really?_ Tom thought in bewilderment as he set down a letter Skeeter had personally sent to him on top of the newspaper. That she would write him a letter to ask him to confirm that he finally found someone to share his life with, he'd expected. What he hadn't expected was for her to ask him if he would not reconsider his current choice and chose her instead. She 'helpfully' pointed out that she, as a woman, would be able to give him an heir, something that she knew Severus would not be able to give him. And while she admitted that there was the possibility that I could be a Foreas and thus could give Tom children, she actually had the audacity to write that by the time I reached a childbearing age, Tom could be already impotent and thus he should better use his chance now and marry her.

  


“The nerve of that woman!” he said with disgust, making Severus and me look up from our breakfast plates.

  


“What has Skeeter done now?” Severus asked.

  


“Read for yourself,” Tom offered, handing over the letter. At first Severus just raised an eyebrow but as he continued reading he shook his head and then too threw the letter aside.

  


Deciding that he needed something to amuse him, Severus asked, “So, will you write her and politely inform her that as flattered as you and I are by her offer, we are not into a threesome?” Severus even fluttered his eyelashes.

  


“I was more inclined to not answer her at all. But if you insist, I'll write her that I am only interest in dark haired males that were born after nineteen-fifty-one that have mastered at least one branch of magic that my ancestor Salazar Slytherin was famous for,” Tom countered, his mood improving. He loved Severus for knowing him so well. After his little slip-up of admitting to have a special someone yesterday evening, he needed a friend to make him smile and not a subject who bowed to him as their Lord.

  


“Of course, she would assume that you could only be referring to me,” Severus answered. While the described age, gender and heir colour dismissed Skeeter and applied to both me and Severus, only three people currently knew that I had inherited Salazar's Parseltongue ability. So they would assume that it referred to Severus and his Potions skills instead.

  


“Yes,” Tom agreed. “But as amusing as the thought of leading her astray with the truth is, I rather not dignify her letter with an answer at all.”

  


The decision in the end to leave her letter unanswered was the first stone that guided all the others into place, enabling the course of my life to change for the better. After all, it was Tom's lack of an answer that fuelled Rita Skeeter to delve deeper into the laws regulating the marriage of Lord Slytherin.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Saturday, 23rd January 1982**

  


_**~The Nightmare of Being Lord Slytherin's Consort** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**I'm sure you remember my article from New Years and how Lord Slytherin had neither denied nor confirmed that either Severus Snape or Harry Potter is his spouse to be. His lack of a definite answer made me very curious and I can tell you now that my reporter instincts were not off.** _

  


_**The outstanding reporter I am, I thoroughly searched for a possible reason to his secrecy and what I found is devastating. Hidden deep inside the Ministry of Magic there is an eight feet long scroll. This scroll documents an over three hundred year old and still in effect law. This law (while without a name) becomes crucial when the current Lord Slytherin is the last of his line and decides to marry. Our current Lord Slytherin, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is in exactly such a position.** _

  


_**I will not bore you with the petty details concerning such a union and for convenience sake let us call this nameless law 'the old law'. No, what is far more interesting is what this old law says about the spouse of Lord Slytherin if he is the last of his line. One of the most important points is that the spouse, in this case called 'Consort' must be able to bear Lord Slytherin's children. Thus, Potions master Severus Snape cannot become our Lord's Consort. This leaves our dear Harry Potter as the only possible option for our Lord… At least if Harry is a Foreas.** _

  


_**If Harry Potter's Elencho Foreas test shows that he is not a Foreas, then our beloved Lord needs to find a new Consort candidate. If you are a possible candidate you can find out by reading paragraph §1 of this old law on page 2, where all requirements of the Consort are listed in detail. Some commented highlights of the other paragraphs of this old law can be found on pages 3-6. Read on your own caution, because I can tell you they sound more like a nightmare than a fairytale:** _

  


_**Complete isolation during the time of the pregnancy and child-bed?! Not being allowed to see your own child once it is born?! Only your Healer and a MINISTRY OFFICIAL being at your side during the birth, but not your OWN HUSBAND? And let me not start about §3 which revolves all around the conception or the lack thereof and what measures should be taken to ensure that an heir for Lord Slytherin will be born in the very near future. This charming paragraph of the old law will be discussed tomorrow as it deserves an article all of its own.** _

  


_**But for our poor, little Harry to get the fairytale ending he deserves, many things need to be changed first. Because as the law currently stands, the life Harry will have as our Lord's Consort will not be pleasant! So maybe we should pray that his Elencho Foreas will not reveal him to be a Foreas, because, as it stands right now, his life will be a living hell.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter~~** _

  


To say that Tom was shocked about the article would be an understatement. He had never heard that such a law even existed. He already greatly disliked what he read so far and knowing Skeeter, this was just the tip of the figurative iceberg or she would not have bothered to announce a follow-up article on a paragraph after spending five pages discussing the rest of the law. With trepidation Tom opened the newspaper to read the abstract Skeeter published about the law.

  


_**~What it Takes to Become Lord Slytherin's Consort** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**So who of you would like to be the one who finally catches the heart of our beloved Lord and becomes his spouse? Faint of hear beware for Lord Slytherin is currently the last of his line, unlike his uncle Morphin (may his soul rot in hell), he does not have any male relatives who he could name as his heir. Thus, the old law becomes effective as you can see below:** _

  


**§0-1: This law is only applicable if**

  


**a) the current Lord is unmarried and the last male of his line. This means that he has neither brothers, nephews, uncles or male cousins of his own bloodline that he could name his heir.**

  


**b) the current Lord still had a possible heir as specified in a) during the time he married but now is the last male of his line and the marriage has been in existence for over a decade. In this case, the spouse must fulfil all the requirements specified in §1. Otherwise the marriage will be annulled immediately and a new spouse must be found within one year that fulfils §1.**

  


**c) the current Lord still had a possible heir as specified in a) during the time he married but now is the last male of his line and the marriage has been in existence for less than a decade. In this case, the spouse must not fulfil all the requirements specified in §1. However, the union must produce an acceptable heir as specified in §4 and §5 within the first ten years of the marriage. Otherwise the marriage will be annulled immediately and a new spouse must be found within one year that fulfils §1.**

  


**§0-2: The spouse of Lord is to be called 'Consort'. In the following he/she will only be referred to as the Consort.**

  


_**As you can see, my dear readers, our Lord's current situation activates the law as stated in §0-1 a). And take notice of §0-2, where the name of the spouse is changed to 'Consort'. But now, we finally take a closer look at what it takes to become our Lord's Consort.** _

  


**§1-1: The Consort of the Lord must fulfil the following, politically necessary requirements.**

  


**a) The Consort must be of British nationality since birth.**

  


**b) The Consort must be magical.**

  


**c) The Consort must be able to bear children and thus an heir for the Lord.**

  


**d) The Consort must possess a positive certificate of good conduct.**

  


_**I think, my dear readers that these requirement are only sensible. Why would a childless Lord without an heir marry if not for producing an heir of its own? And also, none of us want a criminal to become the spouse of our Lord, less they corrupt the child. So those of you who still are able to bear children, can now see if you also fulfil the next requirements.** _

  


**§1-2: The Consort of the Lord must fulfil the following requirements to ensure that a healthy, rightful heir will be produced by a union with the Lord.**

  


**a) The Consort must be older than sixteen, but younger than thirty-five on the day of marriage.**

  


**b) The Consort must prove his fertility via Healer certificate.**

  


**c) The Consort must be virginal.**

  


**d) The Consort is forbidden to consume or apply anything that prevents conception.**

  


**e) The Lord must ensure that the Consort can only conceive from him.**

  


_**So, who of my lovely readers is still a virgin, of age but under thirty-five and can prove that they are fertile? Whoever you are, write a letter to the Ministry or Lord Slytherin and offer to become our Lord's Consort. But before you take out quill, ink and parchment you better read paragraphs §2-6 on the following pages first.** _

  


_**Yours faithful,** _

  


_**Rita Skeeter~~** _

  


_I only hope that I do not get any marriage proposals anytime soon,_ Tom hoped when he finished reading the article.  _At least this law will save me from getting letters from the old hags, while I still can marry Harry. But I fear that the remaining paragraphs will not be to my liking at all._

  


And Tom was right. The title of the next page said it all.

  


  


_**~The Best (aka Worst) of the Old Laws** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**My Dear Readers,** _

  


_**I am sure you are already more than curious what the old law contains, so let's start with a short overview of its contents:** _

  


** §0  T he  A pplicability  _(refer to page 2)_ **

** §1  T he Consort  _(refer to page 2)_ **

**§2 The Pregnancy**

** §3  T he  C onception  of the  H eir  _(see tomorrow's article)_ **

**§4 The Birth**

** §5  T he  T ime of the  Child-bed _(§5-1 is about the heir and §5-2 is about the Consort)_ **

** §6  T he  L ack of a  M ale  H eir  _(see tomorrow's article)_ **

  


_**As you can see, it all is centred around our Lord finally getting an heir. So let's start with the highlights of paragraph §2.** _

  


**§2-5:**

  


**a) Only the best suited Healer should supervise the development of the heir. The Healer distinguishes themselves by having a vast knowledge on the pregnancy process. This not exclusively includes expertise on the Consort's body's needs that are essential for the healthy development of the heir. Further, the Healer has to be a member of the British Wizarding community since birth.**

  


**b) The Healer, as described in a), is obligated by law to at least write one report per month on the unborn heir's progress for the Ministry's evaluation.**

  


**c) If the evaluation of the heir's progress is not to the Ministry's satisfaction, they reserve the right to demand that a new Healer that fulfils the demands of a) is appointed.**

  


**d) In the case of c), the new Healer the Lord chooses must be approved by the Ministry. If after one month the Ministry and the Lord are not able to agree on a suitable new Healer, the Ministry reserves the right to appoint a Healer of their choosing without the Lord's approval to protect the well-being of the heir.**

  


_**Don't you all love how much power the Ministry has over the heir and the whole pregnancy progress? And here I thought that Lord Slytherin was supposed to be the ruler of our beloved Magical Britain.~** _

  


And on and on it went. Skeeter picking out sub-paragraphs that showed how helpless Tom was in the whole situation, how much power and influence the Ministry had, and how terrible it would all be for the Consort to live through. _And all of this in the name of getting an heir for the country,_ Tom thought angrily as he laid down the paper.

  


_I certainly need to check her claims. But if what she writes here is correct, then I definitely need to do something about it,_ Tom decided and immediately contacted Lucius Malfoy so that he could go to the Ministry to search for a copy of this old law. Once Tom received the documents, he checked and re-checked but the results always remained the same. The old laws Skeeter mentioned in her article were still in effect, even if they had not been used for a long time. But seeing me, finally happy and barely asking about my mother and father that would never again return to me, was motivation enough for Tom to get those barbaric laws revoked.

  


He knew that it would not be easy, especially since the people in the Ministry would know why he was so adamant to get rid of them now. But he did not care. Even if I did not turn out to be a Foreas, Tom did not want anyone to have to live under such horrible rules and regulations. The Ministry, on the other hand, would see the old laws as a perfect blackmail tool, as something they could use to force Tom to do as they pleased.

  


But Tom did not care. I had already lost so much at such a young age that Tom did not want my future to hold any more hardship and heartache, even if I could still decide not to marry him when I turned seventeen. In the two and a half months I lived with him, he had already taken me into his heart. And he would move mountains and shift seas if it meant my future happiness.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


And with this, Tom's three year long fight to disband the old laws began. Dumbledore became one of the most stubborn people in favour of the laws to remain. At least Tom no longer had to worry about Greyback when nearly all his time was spent on disbanding the old laws.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Lebien-Pogil:** A guardian spirit of the earth in Siberian mythology.

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** The  tone of the next chapter will be a lot happier. :) Though, I have no idea when I'll update it. :(

**AN2:** Comments and Kudos are always  a welcomed  Christmas present.  ; )


	23. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** Not really.

**AN: Happy Springtime! ^_^**

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **18** **-~-~-**

  


“Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.”

(Wendell Berry, American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer)

  


While I did go on vacations during the life where my parents were alive, we mostly stayed in good old Britain. It was only when I grew up with Severus and Tom that I truly travelled the world as a child and later as an adult. Severus took me to secluded places to hunt for potions ingredients, Tom occasionally brought me with him when he met different politicians in their home countries and both of them loved to visit different amusement parks, museums and zoos with me whenever they had days off from work.

  


And while I loved to discover the world, the trip that left the greatest impression on me was the one to the Netherlands when I was seven years old. It was there where I first met Hermione Granger, a Muggleborn witch who would become one of my closest friends. Though, as much as I loved her like a sister, she could never take Draco's place as my best friend. No matter how my life turned out.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Growing up in Slytherin Manor with Severus and Tom was interesting. I spent my time with both notable wizards and they juggled looking after me between themselves and work. And only when both of their jobs hindered them from watching me, would they enlist the child minding aid of the Malfoys or the Lestranges or for short times even Nagini.

  


Since, to his great relief, Severus had not taken the job as a Potions master at Hogwarts, he mainly brewed for Tom and other hand-picked customers when he was not experimenting with new potions. Thus, he could decide most of the time when he would be working, and had lots of time to take care of me. Usually he scheduled the more complex potions when I was taking a nap or when I was having a play date with Draco under the watch of Narcissa.

  


At other times, Tom was the one who watched me. Sometimes because Severus had some potion commissions to finish, other times because I insisted that I wanted to spend time with him and Nagini. It's unnecessary to say that I loved to play in Tom's study, either being entertained by Nagini and the charms Tom cast between doing paperwork or entertaining myself with building blocks, colouring books or my beloved plush lion.

  


And while to the outside world my little family and its dynamics sometimes looked dysfunctional and crazy, it worked out very well for us. Even Lucius didn’t always understand our family and loved to bring up one situation in particular whenever he and Severus disagreed about the best parenting style. I had been about two years old, Tom was out of the manor for an emergency meeting and Severus was very busy preparing for a potions conference the next week, when Lucius visited Slytherin Manor. In his search for Tom, being unaware of his unexpected absence, to report on the current process on overthrowing the Old Laws he walked through the whole house. The first person he found was me sleeping in the living room, curled up in Nagini's body my lion plush toy lying besides us on the floor.

  


“Do you know where Harry is?” was the first thing he asked Severus when he found my godfather in his study, skipping all socially appropriate greetings.

  


“He should still be sleeping in the living room,” Severus answered. “And hello to you too,” he added as he finally looked up from his manuscript papers.

  


“Harry is sleeping, yes,” Lucius drawled out. “Though the fact that you're apparently using a poisonous and lethal snake as a crib makes me reconsider naming you Draco's godfather.”

  


“Don't worry. Harry and Tom were playing a game after lunch when Tom received an emergency Floo call from the Department of Mysteries. By the time he ended the call, Harry and Nagini were already asleep and he did not want to move either of them. Besides, Tom assured me that Nagini would never bite Harry,” Severus answered offhandedly, leaving out that I had told him the exact same thing.

  


“Is this supposed to pacify me?” Lucius asked.

  


“Obviously,” Severus dead-panned. “Or do you doubt that our Lord has complete control over his snake?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

  


“Of course not,” Lucius answered.

  


“That's reassuring to know,” Tom's voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. “So, what is the reason of your visit?” he asked as they both left Severus to his conference preparations and walked towards Tom's study.

  


“Dumbledore, who else?” Lucius replied. “Now he is saying that the Old Laws are essential for you to finally produce an heir.”

  


“Really?” Tom asked.

  


“Unfortunately. Apparently without the Old Laws in place you will never marry and have a child. I _kindly_ pointed out to him that the Old Laws had been very _successful_ in making you marry since you became Lord Slytherin,” Lucius began, sarcasms clear in his voice. “He continued to say that in the case you marry, the Old Laws would at least ensure that your spouse would conceive right away and that they could be sure that the child would be yours and not a bastard. He also said something about the Old Laws providing the best care for the unborn child during the pregnancy.”

  


They finally reached Tom's study and entered. “I sounds like you had the situation under control,” Tom said as he offered Lucius a seat.

  


“Yesss,” Lucius drawled out, he was not sure if Tom would be angry with him about what he had to admit next. “I had to take the liberty of saying that the Old Laws were actually one of the reasons why you have not married yet.”

  


“A true enough statement,” Tom said.

  


“Under pressure, Dumbledore saw no choice but to demand a written statement from you, if not an Unbreakable Vow that you will marry soon.”

  


“I see,” Tom said. He had a signed marriage contract with me, so he had no problem with giving such a promise. However, he still did not want to reveal the existence of our engagement to the whole of Wizarding Britain. In his opinion, the longer I could grow up like any other wizard, the better. A childhood would never be a childhood if the press is chasing after you and everyone around you eagerly awaits your maturity so that you could finally give birth to the long awaited heir. No both Tom and Severus would want to keep the engagement a secret for as long as possible. To Lucius he said, “I'll take care of it. Is there a deadline?”

  


“No, my Lord. But it is expected that you join the next meeting in two weeks to make a statement on this topic,” Lucius said.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


I was four years old when Tom and I accompanied Severus on a trip to Northern Canada. My godfather wanted to search for Tufted Fleabane and Three-toothed Saxifrage he needed for his new experimental potion and Tom thought that it would be a good idea to just get away from Britain for a while. After he finally won the fight against Dumbledore to annul the Old Laws, he more than deserved a holiday. And I was just happy to finally have Tom all to myself for the next two weeks.

  


When I was still young, the Old Law issue had only called Tom to the Ministry a few times a month. But as the final stage of annulment grew nearer, Tom had been away nearly every day as Dumbledore and some of his friends desperately tried to find any reason to stop the process. Luckily, most of the other wizards and witches were on Tom's side. Some because they also thought that the laws were cruel and unjustified, others because they hoped that with the change in laws they could become Tom's spouse and others were just fond of Tom and the positive changes he had already brought in after he became their new Lord when his detested uncle died. Tom did not care either way as long as they did not hinder his project. While changing their minds would be important, changing the laws would give Tom some security to draw on.

  


So, with Tom either being in the Ministry or fulfilling his other responsibilities as the Lord of Magical Britain, like meeting foreign politicians, Tom had nearly no time to spend with me during the last six months. He missed spending time with me as much as I, but since he was doing this for me, he was determined to see it through. And see it through he did. Now he just had to make sure that other Foreas and women were never again seen as the property of their fathers and later husbands. But this fight could be fought by any family that had a seat in the Wizengamot. He and Lucius deserved some rest and time with their families. And with Bellatrix already having voiced her devotedness to see the laws about branding banished, Tom was hopeful that they could further change the Wizarding World for the better.

  


Sometimes, life would have been easier if Tom held all the political power instead of having to share it with the Ministry. But more power for Tom would also have meant more work and thus less time for me and Severus. And if there was one thing I loved about my family is was that we travelled a lot. Mostly because Tom had to meet a politician from another country and I and Severus tacked along with him for a vacation and potions ingredient trip.

  


Like always when the three of us travelled together, I stayed in Severus' room, giving Tom the space he needed to prepare for his political meetings. This time however, I only slept in Severus' room, spending my whole day with Tom either in his room or exploring the outdoors. On our third night a storm rolled in. Severus had tucked me into bed at about seven thirty in the evening, but the wind picked up with the hour and made howling noises that carried over to my dreams. In my previously happy dream, I was running with Nagini around my shoulders across a grass and flower covered meadow, Tom chasing after us when suddenly the image changed. Instead of a blue sky, I could only see dark clouds over me and Tom was replaced by several half-transformed werewolves who tried to attack me and Nagini.

  


"The big, bad wolf and his friends have arrived, my little sheep," I heard one of them call, but I did not turn around to check who it was, I just ran. But as fast as I ran, I could not make it in time. Soon, I was surrounded. With a loud scream, I woke up.

  


Before Severus could get up from his own bed to calm me down, I had already vanished from his sight. Agitated, Severus hurriedly put on a dressing gown and walked to Tom's room. “Tom,” he called, a trace of panic clouding his voice, as he knocked on the door.

  


“Harry is with me,” Tom called back. “Just give me a moment to get dressed.” Relief flooded Severus' body at the news. A moment later, the door was finally opened by Tom, who only wore a bathrobe, his hair still covered in hair conditioner and holding a dripping wet four year old boy in his arms. “I was just washing my hair, when Harry suddenly appeared in the bathtub with me,” he explained as he let Severus into his room, soothingly rubbing my back.

 

“I heard a scream. When I looked over at Harry's bed, he disappeared,” Severus told as he lovingly petted my hair.

  


“I had a bad dream,” I hiccuped. “Werewolves were chasing me. But not the nice one like uncle Remus, but the bad kind.”

  


“You're safe now,” Tom said, kissing the top of my head.

  


“Why don't we get you out of the wet clothes before you get ill?” Severus asked softly. I looked into Tom's eyes and then nodded my agreement.

  


Going to the bathroom, Tom took a spare towel and handed it to Severus. Going to his dresser, he retrieved a shirt and placed it on the bed. They could have gotten a new pyjama set from mine and Severus room, but both adults had the feeling that I did not want either of them to leave right now. “Come, Harry,” he said, “Severus will get you dried while I finish rinsing.”

  


“Do you feel safe with me too?” Severus asked hesitantly. I nodded again and allowed Tom to place me on the ground in front of his bed.

  


It was ten minutes later when Tom re-entered the bedroom, now dressed in his pyjamas. I was sitting on Tom's bed and asked, “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

  


“Of course,” Tom said with a smile.

  


With a heavy heart Severus took his leave. He could not understand why I used accidental magic to appear in Tom's arms when I was scared when he was just in the bed next to mine; or why I wanted to stay with Tom instead of him. When he discussed his feelings with Tom the next day, Tom found a reasonable explanation for my behaviour.

  


“From what Harry has told me of his dream, he probably was remembering the night when Greyback attacked. My best guess why he did not want to stay with you, is that you were in the same room as him when the werewolves attacked, and thus he subconsciously connects you with still being in danger. While I was also there, Harry never saw me with the werewolves;” Tom told him.

  


While Severus admitted that Tom's explanation had some logic in it, he still did not believe that it was the whole reason. After all, the first thing I did when Severus arrived in Malfoy manor after the attack was to ask him to pick me up, so I had felt safe with him then. Luckily, I cut my finger on a book page two days later and went to Severus for help, even though Tom was sitting right next to me. Reassured that if anything happened to me I would still also go to him, made Severus happy again and my preference for Tom two nights ago was forgotten.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


We often went to zoos, Muggle and Wizarding ones alike. Though the latter kind, could only be found outside of Britain. While Tom was busy with his foreign political meetings, Severus and I would visit the local zoos or museums. And if Tom finished his meetings earlier than planned, he would join us, a discreetly cast _Point-me_ spell allowing him to quickly locate us. Luckily Severus did not mind when I took Tom's hand and dragged them through half of the zoo again, so that I could show Tom my favourite animal of the zoo we were currently visiting. Though my all time favourite animal would always be Nagini. Only when I started Hogwarts did Nagijan and Hedwig join this exclusive list.

  


Shortly before my seventh birthday we were visiting the London Zoo. There I saw a family of three. Their boy, who could not have been much older than me, was basically glued to the window inside the reptile house. When the boa constrictor did not move, he angrily knocked on the glass, and loudly complained to his parents that it wasn’t doing anything. But even after his father joined him, the snake was still not inclined to do anything but to lie in its corner.

  


“The snake is probably just digesting his lunch,” I told Severus. Feeling sorry for the snake, I took Severus' hand and dragged him over to the cage.

  


Before we could reach them, the mother of the boy joined them. We were close enough to hear her say, “Let's go, I do not want to be near freaks,” as she looked at us and quickly led her family away and out of the reptile house.

  


“Who were they?” I asked. I had never met this family but the way the mother looked at us told me that she must have recognised one of us.

  


“Someone you do not want to know,” Severus simply answered. While he had not seen Petunia in nearly ten years, her horse-like features made her easy to recognise. While she was the only direct blood-relative I still had, he did not think that she was worth knowing. “But at least they finally left the snake in peace.”

  


“Yeah,” I agreed happily as I walked the last ten feet towards the boa constrictor the boy had annoyed. Looking around I saw that no one was close enough to hear me speak Parseltongue. _“Sorry for him. Some people just do not understand that you have feelings too.”_

  


Raising his head slightly, the snake answered, “ _No need to worry about it. He is not the first one the behave like this._ _After a while you start to laugh about them. Especially the one_ _s_ _who press their faces against the glass._ _It is a nice change from the never changing look of my cage._ _”_

  


Just as I wanted to answer, Severus laid a hand on my shoulder, reminding me that we were not alone in the reptile house. I had just enough time to hiss, “ _Goodbye,_ ” before a father with his daughter stepped up to the terrarium.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Three weeks later, it was time for my Elencho Foreas. Before we went to the examination, Severus and Tom sat me down and explained to me what a Foreas was and what it would mean to me if I turned out to be one. They both also said that they suspected that I was a Foreas. When I asked them how they knew, they both said that they just had a feeling, nothing more.

  


Least to say, I did not like the test. It hurt and I that much I told to Draco the next day as I complained to him that he could have warned me.

  


“Father just told me to keep quiet and let the Healer get it done. Reminding me that a Malfoy never complains,” Draco said in his defence.

  


“Really?” I asked. “Severus at least explained to me why it needs to be done, though he left out how much it would hurt,” I grumbled. “But I'd rather feel pain for a minute, than get an infection up there just because the spell did not show that the hole was closed up.

  


“My dad didn't explain anything,” Draco complained. “But I think he didn't assume that I would be a Foreas. Unlike you,” he said and friendly hit my shoulder with his.

  


”Don't worry, from what I've been told about mine, he probably would not have explained it either,” I pacified, happy that nothing changed between us just because I now was labelled a Foreas. _Sometimes it was_ _great_ _that Severus and Tom were both_ _people_ _that valued_ _science and knowledge,_ I thought.

  


“By the way,” Draco began to ask,” does you being a Foreas mean that I can braid your hair?” he asked.

  


“What? Is daddy not letting you braid his anymore? Poor little dragon, maybe you need to grow your hair out too?” I asked as I ran away from Draco, the blond hot on my heals. The only person who could call him “little dragon” anymore was his mother. _And maybe Severus, but he never us_ _e_ _d it anyway_ , I thought as we chased each other around the big oak tree in Slytherin manor.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


A day later Severus, Tom and I went on our summer vacation trip. This year we decided to visit Denmark. The last stop of our trip was The Hague. It was there where I first met Hermione Granger. The three of us were on our way to the Wizarding shopping centre located close to the Peace Palace when we overheard a conversation as we waited for the traffic light to change colour.

  


“Mum, can we take a look at the shop over there?” a girl around my age asked her mother.

  


“Hermione, dear, there are only trees over there,” the mother answered.

  


“No mum, I can see a shop. It's right there,” she said, pointing across the street. It was obvious to the three of us that this girl must be a Muggle-born witch, or she would have been unable to see the entrance to the Wizarding shopping centre.

  


“Excuse me, madame,” Tom said to the girl's mother. “Your daughter is right.” Because of their British accents Tom thought that it was his duty as Lord Slytherin to explain to the family that the girl was a witch. In his opinion, it would be better for everyone involved if they knew before the eleventh birthdays that their children were magical. Especially the male Muggle-borns so that they could be tested for their Foreas status together with the other wizards, instead of four years later.

  


“She is,” Severus seconded. “If you have some time, we will explain it to you. Maybe you have noticed some unusual things happening around your daughter?” he asked when the mother hesitated. He too wanted to help out. While the girl looked nothing like my mother, she still reminded him of Lily. She too had noticed magic around her at a young age and hearing Severus affirm that magic existed had been a great relief to her. At least she then knew that she was not going mad or only imagining things. “It happens to Harry too,” Severus added, “and we would like to clear things up for you.”

  


“I don't know,” the woman hesitated. Her daughter was seeing things again and two strangers and their child were telling her that they could see it too.

  


“Please, mum,” Hermione pleaded. “I want to know what is going on!”

  


“Okay, Hermione. But we will need to find your father first,” the woman relented. Facing us again she thought that it was time to introduce herself, “I'm Jean Granger and this is my daughter Hermione. It's nice to meet you.”

  


“Severus Snape and my godson Harry. We're pleased to meet you,” Severus spoke for both of us.

  


“Tom Riddle,” Tom said as he shook Mrs Granger's hand. “Is your husband close by?”

  


“He should be. He was supposed to meet us in about ten minutes at the other side of the park.”

  


“Then we'll wait for you here,” Tom answered.

  


“You do not mind that we explain to them that their child is a witch?” Severus asked me. We were supposed to look around the shopping centre to find some Potions ingredients for Severus, new books for Tom and for me to pick out any (reasonable) extra birthday and Foreas present I wanted.

  


“No,” I answered. “I think it will be more fun to show them our world,” I said, smiling up at them.

  


Fifteen minutes later, we saw the little family of three return. “Mr Granger,” the man introduced himself as he approached us. “Nice to meet you. Hermione told me that you wanted to explain something to us?”

  


“That's correct,” Tom answered. “How about we sit down in the café over there and we'll explain to you why some unusual things happen around your daughter.”

  


And so, the six of us sat down in a corner in the cosy café, Tom wandless and wordlessly having cast a privacy spell as he and Severus and occasionally I, explained to the Grangers that their daughter was a witch, where Diagon Alley could be found back home in London and Tom and Severus discreetly demonstrated some simple spells for them.

  


They also explained the concept of Owl post to them and Severus gave them his Muggle address. While he did not live in Spinner's End any more, the Muggle post still reached him there and would be magically delivered to Slytherin manor. If they had any questions, they were free to contact either Severus or Tom. The Grangers also gave us their address and telephone number in case we wanted to reach them. Even if it was just for a play date between me and Hermione.

  


“Would you like to visit the Wizarding shopping centre your daughter saw before?” Severus asked. “I'm sure they also have some English books that can explain some things about the magical world to you,” he added, looking at Hermione. In the hour we spend there, it had become obvious to us that Hermione was a bookworm.

  


“We would love too,” Hermione answered before her parents could say anything. Her parents nodded in agreement. They were curious about what a Wizarding shopping centre looked like.

  


“Then let's go,” Severus said.

  


After a short fight between Tom and Mr Granger over who would pay the bill, which Tom won, the six of us stood near the entrance of The Hague's Wizarding shopping centre. “Relax,” Severus said as he took both Grangers by the hand to prevent the Muggle repelling wards from working on them and walked them towards the doors of the centre which Tom was holding open for them. I and Hermione followed promptly.

  


“Wow,” the Muggles said. From having seen nothing but a group of trees in a park, they went to standing in the middle of a busy shopping centre.

  


“As fascinating as some things might seem to you, I would advise you to not touch anything before asking a clerk first. While most things here are rather safe, there are still some shops and items that should not be touched by either Muggles or young witches,” Severus said, looking sternly at Hermione. It seems, even without becoming Hogwarts' Potions master, Severus was still able to make children do as he told them.

  


“Come, Hermione,” I said. “I want to show you the _Desert-Rip Eight_ that just came out.” Taking her hand, I dragged her after me.

  


“Harry,” Tom called after me. “The Quidditch shop is in the other direction.” In amusement the adults watched as we turned around and walked passed them again, only for Hermione to drag me into a bookshop three doors away from the Quidditch shop. An hour, and five book later, bought by the Grangers for their daughter with the relief that the store accepted Muggle money, I was finally able to show Hermione the new broom on the market, _Desert-Rip Eight_.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Saturday, 20th September 1987**

  


Today I was invited to Hermione's eighth birthday party. During the last month, the two of us had met once a week both to play and for me and Severus to explain some aspects of the Wizarding world to Hermione and her parents. It was not hard for me to find a birthday present for her. When she opened her new copy of “The most beautiful Magical places of the world' and saw that I added some personal notes and photos of the places I had already visited with Tom and Severus, she hugged me with a strength an eight year old should not possess. “This is beautiful, Harry. Thank you so much,” she said into my neck.

  


“You're welcome,” I answered, happy that she liked the present.

  


While I rarely interacted much with Muggles or females my age, I got along well enough with Hermione's friends and enjoyed painting a tote bag with the best interpretation of Nagini I could manage, while Hermione's friend drew girlish things like pink hearts, cats and flowers on theirs. When I asked who Hermione drew, she told me that the figure was not a princes but Glinda, the Good Witch of the South from the fictional land Oz.

  


After our tote bag painting, the girls pressured me to play a game of pirates with them. While they argued amongst themselves who would be the damsel in distress that the others had to rescue, they decided in unison that I would be the pirate captain that had captured the fair maiden. My proud crew in the end consisted of Hermione and Humphrey, the neighbour's cat. The girls insisted that the pirate captain must have a skull tattoo. As if he had just waited for it, Mr Granger presented us with a small assortment of Muggle kid's tattoos. While Hermione's friends happily took the sheets with flowers, crowns, stars and butterflies for themselves, the two of us were left with the boyish themed sheets of dragons, swords, pirate symbols and cars.

  


“Draco would love these,” I told Hermione.

  


“Maybe I can give them to him when we see each other next week?” she asked me. I had told her some stories about Draco and while she was curious to meet the blond, she was still a bit afraid that he would not like her and accept her into our little group.

  


“He would love it,” I told her reassuringly, smiling brightly at her. I really liked Hermione and was sure that Draco would like her too. “So, which of the skull tattoos should I use?” I asked, pointing to the black skull and another that was part of a pirate flag.

  


“Just the skull, and maybe combine it with the snake from this sheet,” Hermione suggested.

  


When Severus came to pick me up two hours later, he raised an eyebrow at my kid's tattoos.

  


“They can be easily washed away with a bit of soap and water,” Mr Granger reassured him.

  


“Look what I've made,” I said proudly, showing him the tote bag I painted before Severus could answer Mr Granger.

  


“It's very nice, Harry. You captured the colours of Nagini's scales very well,” Severus praised.

  


“Really?” I asked. “Do you think that Tom will like it too? I know that he probably does not need it often, but I thought I would give it to him.”

  


“I'm sure he would love to go shopping with it in the Muggle world,” Severus answered. As much as I had Tom wound around my little finger, he still did not believe that Lord Slytherin would ever use my tote bag in the Wizarding World. _The Headline of the Daily Prophet would be funny though_ , Severus thought as he Apparated us home.

  


“Tom, I'm back,” I called out as I ran into the study, eager to show off my tote bag. Tom too looked at my kid's tattoos strangely, but he accepted the tote bag with a smile and a “Thank you, Harry. It's wonderful. I'll certainly use it.”

  


Once I left the study to get ready for bed, Severus repeated Mr Granger's word regarding the kids tattoos to Tom. “But I'll admit that at first I too was reminded of the branding,” Severus told Tom. “If the Lestranges had not been successful in revoking the laws on women and Foreas, right now would have been the time when Harry's branding would have taken place. Some people would have demanded of me that he would be marked, even though there was no Potter left to brand him with the Potter crest.”

  


“You're not someone who would have bowed down to outside pressure,” Tom reassured him. “We both know how much you detested that James branded Lily only to keep his inheritance. No, it is not the branding I would have been worried about. I would have just been sad that with him being a Foreas, he would have been unable to become the Potter heir,” Tom said. “But alas, he will inherit everything his parents left him thanks to Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers.”

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


A week later, Hermione and Draco met for the first time. As I expected, Draco loved the dragon and pirate themed Muggle kid's tattoos Hermione gave him as a present.

  


“Harry told me that you two saw the new _Desert-_ _R_ _ip_ _E_ _ight_ in The Hague,” Draco said conversationally.

  


“We did. Though I do not think that I would like flying much,” Hermione admitted.

  


“Flying is great. Especially if you can fly without a broom like Tom and Severus,” I said. “I always love it when he takes me with him,” I gushed.

  


“Severus never takes me, and he is my godfather too!” Draco complained.

  


“It's only Tom who takes me,” I pacified him. “Though he says that I'm getting too heavy for him to take me anymore. Which is so not true. Nagini is still much heavier than me.” Now it was my turn to complain. “Though I fear that it has to do with Severus' comment the last time he saw us fly. He said something like 'with the sun in your back, you two look just like the typical Christian Muggle paintings of Maria and with little Jesus in her arms,” I told them.

  


“Harry,” Hermione suddenly said in a scared voice, tugging at my pullover. “Is this Nagini?”

  


“Yeah,” I answered as I turned around to where she was pointing and saw that Nagini had joined us.

  


“I mean you told me about her, but I did not think that she was this big,” Hermione said a bit fearful.

  


“Don't worry, she's harmless,” I told her.

  


“If your name is Harry Potter. To the rest of us she is a lethal snake that can kill you with a single bite or choke you to death,” Draco added.

  


“Nah, she is just Tom's pretty pet,” I told them, kneeling down to pet her.

  


“I remember Severus telling me that you called her 'Pretty' all the time when you were still young,” Draco said. “There are even some photos of how he used her as a pony,” he told Hermione, who laughed.

  


“You can pet her too, if you want,” I offered Hermione, who hesitantly took me up on my offer.

  


“Oh, her scales are beautiful,” she said as she softly petted Nagini.

  


“See, I told you she was pretty,” I said to Draco and we three laughed together and Nagini asked me what was so funny.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


And this is how I met my best female friend Hermione Granger, who became like a sister to me. While Hermione and Draco sometimes bickered; be it because of different views between Muggles and purebloods or of who was the better friend to me, they still got along well enough and secretly enjoyed getting to know each other's worlds. And I, I enjoyed having Draco at my side to do all the boyish things like playing Quidditch and with Hermione I shared the love for books and science. I certainly had the best friends a boy could have wished for. And good friends I did need during my time at Hogwarts.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN2:** About 4-7 more chapters before this story is completed.


	24. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** Small parts are copied nearly 1:1 from the first arc.

**AN:** Thank you all for your continued support  and cuter-than-a-guinea-pig for her beta reading . :)

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **1** **9** **-~-~-**

  


“People change. Feelings change. It doesn’t mean that the love once shared wasn’t true or real. It simply means that sometimes when people grow, they grow apart.”

(from the film '(500) Days of Summer')

  


In my experience, people didn’t grow apart but rather, they grew closer together through their shared experiences over the passage of time. And while I agree that people and feelings can change over time, in my and Tom's case, our changed feelings allowed us to grow even closer together; moving from a nephew-uncle relationship to a friendship and later becoming lovers. Though I may have skipped the friendship phase altogether with how quickly my feelings changed from the platonic familial love I felt for Tom to the crush I developed once I knew that he was my fiancé.

  


Luckily for me, in this life Tom decided to tell me about our engagement two years earlier  than he did in the world where my parents were still alive.  D uring Draco's introduction to society party I  was able to  internally laugh  to myself  about all the people who more or less openly speculated about  the identity of my fiancé was and  if  Tom would ever find himself a wife.  After all, Lord Slytherin would not have spent years revoking the Old Laws if he did not plan to marry anytime in the near future, would he?

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Monday, 5th June 1989**

  


Today was Draco's ninth birthday. Because his grand introduction to society party on Saturday, only his close family members were invited to today's small celebration. Though I believe that the party was mainly for my benefit as I was not old enough to attend Draco's introduction to society party. Sometimes, I really hated that Draco was two months older than me.

  


After we all enjoyed the delicious birthday cake, Draco and I talked about Quidditch and Narcissa talked with the three Lestranges about which guests could not make it to the introduction to society party. Seeing everyone occupied, Lucius asked Severus to join him in the study.

  


“Scotch?” Lucius asked as he motioned for Severus to take a seat.

  


“It's not even five,” Severus said, declining the drink.

  


“Your loss,” Lucius answered as he poured himself a glass.

  


“What is it that you want?” Severus asked, knowing his long-time friend he knew that Lucius must want to talk about either something delicate or important to drink so early in the day.

  


“We both know that the introduction to society party is a good opportunity to make an engagement interest known...” Lucius trailed off.

  


“And you want my approval on the candidate you've chosen?” Severus asked.

  


“In a way,” Lucius answered mysteriously. “As Harry's current guardian, I'm sure you can understand that I only want what is best for Draco _and_ for the family, while also making Draco happy.”

  


Now Severus had a good suspicion as to where this conversation was going. Poor Lucius would not be happy when Severus would deny his request. _Whenever he comes around to finally saying it out loud,_ Severus thought in annoyance. “Go on.”

  


“I'm sure that you agree with me that the Malfoy family has a very good standing in the wizarding world,” here the blond stopped to take a sip from his drink, “and surely any family would be happy to be joined with us.”

  


“Come to the point, Lucius,” Severus commanded.

  


“And here I thought a Potions master had to be patient,” Lucius teased, which just earned him a glare. “Anyway, I've been thinking about possible fiancés for Draco and since you are his godfather, I thought it would only be fair to offer Harry the honour before considering anyone else.”

  


Silence.

  


“You must see, my old friend, what a good opportunity it would be to join the Malfoy and the Potter fortune and power,” Lucius argued. Reading between the lines, Lucius was basically saying that he would never have considered me as a potential spouse for Draco if I was not the Potter heir. At least not at such an early age.

  


“It would only last for one generation,” Severus pointed out. While Tom and the Lestranges had made sure that both Foreas and women could now be legal heirs, they'd also included some laws that would prevent one family to create a political power monopoly. Essentially the parents were forced to split up their (political) power between their children instead of one child inheriting everything. Thus, if Draco and I would marry and have children, one would be the Potter heir and the other the Malfoy heir, instead of the eldest being both the Potter and Malfoy heir.

  


“They would still have sibling ties in the next generation,” Lucius countered.

  


“We could argue for longer. Alas, the topic is redundant. James already signed an engagement contract shortly after Harry was born,” Severus informed him.

  


“Why would he do such a thing?” Lucius asked, flabbergasted. “He could not have known that Harry was a Foreas.”

  


“Ever thought it didn't matter?” Severus asked in amusement. “But do not give up hope. When Harry turns seventeen, he can either accept or revoke the engagement. So if you still want Harry to marry Draco, you have eight years to convince him that Draco would be the better choice.” With that said, Severus left Lucius to his thoughts and re-joined the party.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


The next day Severus approached Tom. The talk with Lucius made him realise that once my birthday passed without an introduction to society party, every last wizard and witch would know that the Potter heir was a Foreas, a very desirable husband for not only their daughters, but now their sons as well. It would not take long before people began approaching him as my guardian to ask for an engagement contract, be it formal or informal.

  


Severus voiced his fears and concerns to Tom, leaving out that Lucius had already asked for a union between me and Draco. In the end they decided that it would be best to inform me about the marriage contract. This way I could not be swept of f my feet by some over exaggerated story of how wonderful a marriage with someone's son or daughter would be  and how happy we would be in our manor  with our children. Tom also hoped to gain a bit of insight  into where I stood on the idea of  marrying him; the sooner he knew of my opinion, the more time he had on his hands to change my mind in his favour.

  


They both further agreed that if asked, they would confirm that I was indeed already engaged, however who my fiancé was would still be kept a secret. At nine years of age, I was old enough to not let Tom's name accidentally slip and they hoped that when both of them asked me that I would keep my promise to not even tell my two best friends that Tom way my mysterious fiancé. While an unknown fiancé would raise some attention, they both hoped that it would still be less than when they found out that I was to be Lord Slytherin's husband.

  


While they agreed that I should be told before Draco's introduction to society party, they argued quite a while about how, and especially who, would tell me about the engagement. Tom wanted to tell me by himself, maybe on a short trip to Disneyland Paris, where I could either celebrate the fact that Tom was my fiancé or throw my sorrows down the various rides.

  


Severus, on the other hand, insisted that both he and Tom sat me down like they had before the Elencho Foreas and if I was angry about it, I could storm to my room without either of them having to worry about my whereabouts. In the end, they compromised. They would tell me about the engagement together, here at Slytherin Manor and if I was in a good mood afterwards, Tom would take me to Disneyland until Friday afternoon.

  


Before they had time to inform me about my engagement, Lucius arrived early Wednesday morning at Slytherin manor. “Severus, I have a favour to ask of you,” he announced after greeting Tom as he entered the small dining room where Severus and I were having breakfast, while Tom read the newspaper.

  


“How can I help you?” Severus asked. He hoped that Lucius would not ask him who my fiancé was.

  


“As you know, Draco is still without a fiancé, so he has to dance his first dance with Narcissa. Least to say, he is currently complaining that he will look ridiculous if he is to dance with someone twice as tall as he is. So Narcissa suggested that he could dance his first dance with Harry instead as they are godbrothers.”

  


“Godbrothers?” Tom asked, amused, while I vigorously nodded my head in agreement.

  


_ That's my chance to go to the party,  _ I though. While the introduction to society party for Foreas and girls was still held at the age of eleven, with the changes in the laws  brought forth by Tom and the Lestranges, all children at the age of nine and above were  now  allowed to attend the parties. It was just my bad luck that Draco's birthday happened to be before mine.

  


“They're both Severus' godsons, are they not?” Lucius repeated the words his wife had spoken that morning. “Draco would be really happy if you could dance the first dance with him,” Lucius said to me, but then looked at Severus to gauge his reaction. Would my fiancé, whoever he was, be agreeable to this or would he protest?

  


“Are you sure that Draco will not complain about how horribly Harry's red Potter robes clash with his Malfoy green robes?” Severus asked, knowing my best friend quite well and also wanting to bide his time to get a hint on where Tom stood on the situation.

  


“He could always wear the Prince black and blue robes to underline their _godbrother_ status,” Tom helpfully suggested, making his feelings on the matter known to Severus without revealing anything to Lucius. He did not mind me sharing Draco's first dance as long as I knew that I belonged to him and that I shared my own dance with him. It certainly would make the people speculate more about Draco and I and take the attention away from Tom.

  


“Or maybe black with a touch of Potter red?” Severus asked me. He did not want me to forget that I was a Potter, not a Prince or Snape.

  


“I'm not worried about the clothes, as long as I can go to the party,” I stated. “Though, I'm a bit afraid of making a fool out of myself while dancing,” I spoke up for the first time.

  


“Don't worry, Draco is a good dancer. You'll just have to follow his lead” Lucius pacified. “So, you'll dance with him?” he asked, looking at me and then Severus.

  


“I'll try,” I said while Severus nodded his agreement.

  


“Then I'll see you all on Friday evening. Or do you want to come over for a practice dance?” Lucius asked.

  


“I think Harry can manage with our help,” Severus said and Lucius took his leave, eager to relieve his wife from Draco's constant nagging about not wanting to dance with her or his aunt Bella.

  


Severus and I finished our breakfast and then Tom asked us to join him in the living room. “Harry,” Tom began as we all settled down, I sitting between the two adults on the couch. “As you know, the opening dance during a child's introduction to society party is traditionally either danced with a family member or with a potential spouse.”

  


“Hmm,” I hummed in agreement and nodded my head. But then an uncomfortable thought occurred to me. “You are not considering Draco as my potential husband, are you?” I worriedly asked Severus, turning my head to face him.

  


“No, I'm not,” Severus dismissed.

  


“Thank Salazar,” I sighed out in relief. “I really like Draco, love him even,” I continued. “But just as a friend.” After a moment I asked, “You are not considering someone else for me, are you?”

  


“You never need to fear that I'll marry you off to someone,” Severus told me, but my happiness was short lived because he added in a softer voice, “However, your father already signed a preliminary engagement contract shortly after you were born.”

  


That I certainly did not expect to hear. My first reaction was to feel betrayed. If it was by Severus or my dead father, I did not know. Then anger started to take over. _How dare they to decide MY future for me? By Merlin, I was just a baby when the contract had been signed!_ My thoughts were running wild, imagining one horrible spouse after another. Pansy, with her love for fine dresses and her aversion to playing simple games like catch because they would ruin her dress. The youngest Weasley boy that always fights with Draco whenever we happened to meet him in Diagon Alley. Gilderoy Lockhart, who not so long ago came onto Tom when we were in Flourish and Blotts. Dolores Umbridge with her toad-like appearance, pink clothes and too high voice. Albus Dumbledore with his twinkling eyes and eye-blinding robes. “I'll NEVER marry them!” I screamed in Severus' face, making both adults wince.

  


“Harry,” Severus tried to calm me down, but I jumped up from the couch to get away from him.

  


“You do not have to marry me,” Tom said in a clear and authoritative but at the same time also calm voice before I could sprint out of the room.

  


“I don't?” I asked, completely missing the last word he said in my relief to get out of an unwanted marriage. _Tom._ _M_ _y reliable, trustworthy Tom would make everything right again,_ I thought.

  


“You don't,” Tom assured and motioned for me to sit back down. I walked back towards the couch, but I remained standing, feeling too restless to sit. Taking a hold of my hands, Tom continued talking, “When your father and I set up the contract, we included a stipulation that gives you the choice to either accept or reject the engagement once you turn seventeen. If you reject the engagement, you'll be old enough to choose your own spouse. And while I know that it is selfish of me, I hope that by that time you'll decide that you would like to have me as your husband and accept the contract your father and I signed so long ago,” Tom explained.

  


“You?” I stupidly asked, only now realising what I'd missed in my anger. _Tom was my fiancé?_ _That changes everything!_ The bubble of the horrible spouses burst and a picture of a smiling Tom, ready to get married invaded my mind. _I was Tom's mysterious love interest everyone had speculated about?_ “Wait, so you did it all for me?” I asked, my eyes growing big in astonishment. “All the fights in the Ministry to change the laws were for me?” While I did not know all the details, I'd heard more than one person whisper how much Tom must love his special someone to fight so hard to revoke the Old Laws.

  


“You were the motivation at the beginning, yes,” Tom admitted. “But along the way, I felt that I was not only doing it for you but for all the other Foreas and witches out there too. As much as I love our traditions, there are things that should change over time. We are not living in the middle ages anymore and women and Foreas are by no way inferior to the average wizard. We are all equal!”

  


“I know. You two have told me this often enough,” I said. “Though you should have told me right away that Tom was my fiancé,” I chided Severus and then smiled at Tom. “I feared that my father had pawned me off to some horrible girl like Pansy or one of the Greengrass sisters. They are really horrible with their dolls and dresses and make-up,” I told them.

  


“Hermione is a girl too,” Severus pointed out.

  


“But she is not like them! She likes books and doesn't mind if her clothes get dirty when we run around the grounds.”

  


Tom and Severus laughed at my answer, happy that I was not angry anymore. I did not mind the preliminary engagement contract as long as it was with Tom. The fact that I had the option to say 'No' also helped to improve my mood.

  


“Are we okay?” Severus asked me cautiously.

  


“Of course we are,” I said and gave my godfather a hug.

  


“Did you never wonder who gave you the earring?” Severus asked me, touching the jewellery. I shook my head 'No', my head still buried in his chest. I'd had the earring since I coul remember and it had long become a part of me.

  


“In my family,” Tom began, stroking my hair lovingly, “a pair of silver snake earrings is the traditional engagement gift. So, when the marriage contract was signed, I gave you the first earring.”

  


“But mine is a lightning bolt,” I pointed out.

  


“It is,” Tom agreed, softly touching the earring. “I'm sure that you are aware that the whole of Wizarding Britain is very interested in my marital status. If they find out that you are my fiancé, they'll constantly be following you around, watching your every move. I do not want such a life for you. So, I could not gift you with the traditional earrings,” he explained. “But I did not want to completely disregard the tradition, so I settled for a compromise. From a distance, your platinum lightning bolt with the emerald greatly resembles the snake earrings. And since you only have one right now, it keeps people from connecting the dots.”

  


“So there is a second one?” I asked.

  


“Yes, I'll give it to you once I think it is safe to let the public know about our engagement. Though, if you want, I can also give you the snake earrings instead,” Tom offered.

  


“No, I like the lightning bolt,” I said. Tom smiled.

  


“Harry,” Severus spoke up, breaking the moment I was sharing with Tom. “You must understand that it is very important that you tell no one about the engagement, not even Draco.”

  


I nodded in acknowledgement. I was old enough to understand that the press would have a field day if they found out.

  


“Anything else, Severus?” Tom asked. When my godfather replied in the negative, Tom said, “Good. Then I can take you on the trip I planned for the two of us.”

  


“A trip?” I asked excited, looking at Tom.

  


“Yes,” Tom confirmed. “I thought that we should celebrate our engagement by spending a few days in Disneyland.”

  


“You're the best!” I answered, my arms encircling around Tom's hips. While Tom tried his best to make time for me, it was rare that I received his undivided attention for the whole day instead of only an hour or two.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Half an hour later Tom and I left via Portkey for Disneyland. “I hope you're not afraid of all the princesses in their pretty dresses that walk around the park,” Tom joked as we waited in line to check into our hotel room, remembering what I'd said about Pansy.

  


“I'm not,” I assured him. “And even if I was, I have my own Prince Charming to hide behind,” I said and we both laughed when I in mock fear hid behind his back, gripping strongly on his dress shirt when Cinderella walked out of the breakfast room.

  


Hours later, after I had dragged Tom all through Disneyland, the two of us sat down for dinner in our room. “Why did you decide to tell me now about our engagement?” I asked. “Only because Draco'll be dancing his introduction dance with me?”

  


“No,” Tom answered. “Severus and I had already decided to tell you about the engagement before Lucius arrived. But I'll admit that Draco's introduction was the catalyst. If not already, next month people will start wondering, why they're not receiving an invitation to your introduction to society party. By then, it will be clear to everyone that you are a Foreas and as the Potter heir, you are a very desirable match. I would not be surprised if some matchmaking mother tries to secure you for their own son or daughter. It may be selfish, but before they start to hunt you, I wanted you to know that you're already spoken for. And if someone pressures you into dating their child, you can always truthfully tell them that your engaged just leave out that it is me. For now, at least,” Tom added.

  


“And I can decide if I want the marriage or not?” I asked. I was not against marrying Tom, but I still wanted to have to choice.

  


“Yes. While I do not want to speak badly about the dead, it was Severus and not your father who insisted on including the clause that you have a say too,” he told me. “You are still too young to fall in love, but I want you to know that there is no pressure on you to marry me. If you should develop feelings for someone else before you turn seventeen, I want you to tell me and we'll speak about it and find a solution. But I want you to know that I'm yours, if you'll have me, by the time your seventeen,” he assured me.

  


We finished the rest of our dinner in a comfortable silence. And soon after I began to feel sleepy, spending the day running around Disneyland had exhausted me physically and the news about the engagement had exhausted me mentally. “Can I sleep in your bed?” I asked, wanting to be close to Tom. After thinking about it for a moment, Tom voiced his agreement. By the time I returned from the bathroom, my beloved plush lion was already waiting for me on his bed.

  


“Thank you,” I said as I moved under the covers and clutched my plush lion.

  


“You're welcome,” Tom answered. “Sweet dreams, Harry.” A kiss on my forehead and Tom left me to join the realm of dreams.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


The next night, I went to sleep in my own bed. But after an hour of unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep, I got up and walked back into the main room.

  


“Tom?” I asked.

  


“Can't you sleep, Harry?” he asked me softly, looking up from the paperwork he had brought with him. “Do you want to sleep in my bed again?” he offered, thinking that I was afraid to sleep on my own away from home. I was a rather still sleeper, so he did not mind sharing his bed with me. I didn't take up much space in the king size bed either.

  


“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Can you teach me how to dance?” I asked. My fears of making a complete fool out of myself during the dance were suppressed the day before because of all the excitement. But now, I felt the full pressure and whenever I tried to fall asleep, imagines of wizards and witches pointing and laughing at me as I embarrassed myself haunted my mind.

  


“Did you not attend dancing lessons with Draco?” Tom asked softly, finally understanding what was keeping me awake.

  


“I did,” I confirmed. “But that was three years ago and I learned how to lead, not how to follow,” I said and mumbled, “Not that I was any good at leading,” under my breath.

  


Setting down his quill, Tom scooted his chair back and walked towards me. A quick spell and the radio in the corner was charmed to play a waltz. “Come here,” he invited and held out his hand. Placing one hand in his and the other hand on his hip as I was too small to reach his shoulder, Tom began to spin me around the room.

  


Following Tom was easy, and when we in front of a mirror, I could confidently say that we looked much more elegant than when I was trying and failing to waltz with Daphne Greengrass during the dancing lessons. But I could see why Draco did not want to dance with his mother. Dancing with someone that was much taller than you, made you look even more like a child.

  


“Following is much easier than leading,” I told Tom.

  


“Then it is a good thing that you are a Foreas,” he said with a small chuckle as he spiced up the simple waltz we'd been doing so far by spinning me around and lifting me into the air for the next five minutes before the dance came to an end.

  


“So, do you think you can sleep now?” he asked me.

  


“I think so,” I answered. “Though I do not think that Draco will lift me up like you did.”

  


“Then you'll have to share a dance with me,” he said with a wink as he sent me back to my own room.

  


**Saturday, 10th June 1989**

  


Finally the day of Draco's introduction to society party arrived. And while it was Draco's big day, there was one person who had been even more excited than him: Hermione. She'd been asking every witch and wizard she knew about what to expect for the last three weeks. She was so excited about the event that her parents had decided to hold a similar party for Hermione next year. While they did not have the connections or the money to hold a party as large as the Malfoys, they'd asked Severus to compile a list for them with the names of wizards and witches that would be starting Hogwarts with Hermione. This way, Hermione would get to know some more of her classmates before school began.

  


And as Draco was also kind enough to invite Hermione's parents to his party, they had a chance to talk with the people on the list and see who would be interested in coming to an introduction to society party that was hosted by Muggles. Some like the Zabini family declined, not wanting to associate with Muggles. Others like the Parkinson and Nott families said they would think about it, but only because the Malfoys and Lord Slytherin had been seen talking to them. The Greengrass and Longbottoms readily agreed.

  


Against Severus' suggestion, I was not wearing the Prince's black robes with a hint of red, but the full Potter outfit. In my new-found knowledge of being Tom's fiancé, I'd decided that I would either wear the Slytherin green and silver of my fiancé or my Potter red clothes, disregarding if they clashed with Draco's robes.

  


Rita Skeeter used the opening dance as a basis to write an article about an engagement between me and Draco, speculating that I was a Foreas to make such a union possible, listing all the pros and cons of it and in the end suggesting some alternative fiancées for Draco. The fact that the only dance Tom danced had been with me had luckily gone unnoticed by her, as well as the glances Tom sent my way every once in a while. But he didn't need to worry, Nagini kept everyone at a safe distance from me, regardless of their attention.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Thursday, 1st August 1991**

  


Similar to Draco's birthday two years ago, we had celebrated my eleventh birthday with a small circle of family and friends. And while Remus had been proud that I would finally be starting Hogwarts this year, he was also sad that my parents and Sirius were going to miss such an important moment in my life. After nearly ten years, his lover and my second godfather was still showing no signs of waking up from his coma.

  


My gifts this year were predictably Hogwarts centred. From Remus I received a map of Hogwarts that he and the other Marauders had created, though when I asked about what happened to Wormtail, they just said that Pettigrew was dead. That he was just dead to them and probably still alive, hiding somewhere in the form of a rat, they left out.

  


Hermione, not surprisingly, had gotten me a copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' and a  student planer.  From Draco, I received a whole Quidditch set, new gloves, practise Snitch and broom care set. My friend did not refrain from hinting that I should try to speak to Tom to get the both of us a special permission to take our own brooms with us to Hogwarts, even though we were first years.

  


Tom and Severus had the same  present idea: a pet. While Severus gave me a voucher for an owl. “So you can write home,” he'd said, Tom wanted to give me my own snake. “For protection,” was his reason.  We headed to Diagon Alley  the next day  to pick up my new animal friends as well as my other school supplies, including my wand.

  


"Ah, Mr Potter, Potions master Snape and Lord Slytherin," the old wandmaker greeted us when we entered his shop. “Ebony, thirteen and one half inches long with a Dragon heartstring core,” he said to Severus. "Yew, thirteen and one half inches long with a Phoenix feather core," he said to Tom, making it seem like he couldn't greet anyone properly without rattling off the facts about the wand he sold

them.

  


"Try out this one," Mr Ollivander said to me as he handed me a wand made of cedar and unicorn hair after he had taken my measurements. I was startled when the shelf to our right exploded.

  


"Not this one then. How about this," Ollivander said, handling over the next wand while Tom repaired the shelf with a flick of his own.

  


After ten more wands which didn't match, Ollivander gave Tom, Severus and I a searching glance. When he looked closer at me, he noticed the lightning bolt earrings that as of yesterday decorated both of my ears. He studied Tom and I intensely, searching for something and when he seemed to have found what he was looking for, he walked towards the back of his shop, muttering, "Maybe...Hmm, yes that could be it…"

  


Two minutes later he finally came back to the front and presented me another wand in a dusty box, "Eleven inches of finest holly," he said.

  


Taking out the wand, I felt an immediate connection. The wand felt like it warmed under my touch and began to hum.

  


"Try it," the wandmaker encouraged me.

  


And for the first time in fifteen minutes, instead of something breaking or exploding, the wand let out colourful sparks.

  


"Interesting, very interesting," Ollivander mumbled so low under his breath that I was barely able to catch what he said. "How very interesting, indeed that you, Mr Potter, would be the one to wield the brother wand of Lord Slytherin," he finally explained. Severus raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “I'm sure that we can expect great things of you seeing what Lord Slytherin has already bestowed. But maybe you’ve already done great things, brought great changes, yes...” he mumbled to himself now. “That will be seven Galleons," Mr Ollivander said so suddenly to us that I was slightly startled.

  


Tom paid and we left for the Magical Menagerie. When we entered the pet shop, some of the smaller animals tried to hide as much as their cages allowed out of fear of Nagini.

  


"Lord Slytherin," we were greeted by the manager of the shop. "How can I help you?" he asked, eager to please his Lord.

  


"We're in search for a snake for Harry," he said, guiding me a step forward with his right hand on my back.

  


"If you would please follow me," the owner said, leading us towards a back room where about twenty terrariums which housed not only snakes but also an iguana or two were kept.

  


"Thank you, we'll pick out a snake on our own. _Won't we, Nagini?_ " Tom dismissed the owner with an obvious reminder of his Parseltongue ability, wanting some privacy as we picked out my snake to keep my Parseltongue ability secret for a bit longer.

  


"Of course, my Lord," was all the salesclerk said before he left us.

  


The terrariums were constructed of two aisles so we decided to split up. Tom and Nagini pursued one aisle and Severus and I looked along the other. Looking around the terrariums, I saw a green anaconda, a green tree python, a black mamba and a king cobra.

  


_"Another idiot to stare at us,"_ the black mamba said when I was in front of its glass cage. I wondered why he called me an idiot. Hadn't he heard how Tom spoke to Nagini? I thought, deciding that I didn't want him.

  


"How about this one, Harry?" Tom asked me from the other aisle before I and Severus could take a closer look at the tree python. Walking over to Tom, we saw that he was looking at a snake which was only about one metre long but its marking and colouring looked very similar to Nagini's.

  


_"Hello,"_ the snake greeted me. _"Nagini told me that you're a very special child"._

  


_ "Hello,"  _ I greeted  back , surprised that Nagini  had taken such a quick liking to the snake . _ Maybe it was because they were of the same species? _ I mused.

  


“Are you sure that this is a safe snake to take to Hogwarts?” Severus asked. “It looks too young to me to not get easily angered by some stupid dunderhead and lash out.”

  


“Snakes are more mature than humans,” Tom answered. “And if necessary, Regulus can always make an announcement to warn the students.”

  


_"Just take him with you, little one,"_ Nagini demanded, having moved her head from Tom's shoulder towards my face.

  


With a chuckle Tom chided her, _"It's Harry's decision, and not yours, which snake he wants to take."_ But inside Tom agreed with her. While its size was not as impressive as Nagini's, its poison was just as lethal and it would grow to its full size in the next two to four years. A perfect body guard to watch over me while I was away at Hogwarts.

  


"I'll take this one," I informed the two adults.

  


"Are you sure?" Severus asked. “There are more snakes you could choose from.”

  


"Yes," I answered. "He seems very friendly. Besides, I'm sure that Nagini will dislike any other snake in here out of principle anyway," I added.

  


"That's true," Tom seconded with a smirk.

  


_"Do you have a name?"_ I asked the snake, slipping back into Parseltongue.

  


_"No, not yet,_ " he answered.

  


_"How about Nagijan?_ " I asked, proud of the name I had come up with yesterday.

  


_"After Nagini?"_ he asked back.

  


_ "Yes," _ I admitted, a bit embarrassed  that my inspiration had been so obvious ,  but  Tom was my fiancé so why should we not have snakes with matching names? " _ You can have another name if you don't like it,"  _ I added.

  


_"No, I like Nagijan very much,"_ the newly named Nagijan answered, as he climbed up my arm to coil around my shoulders. Tom had already pulled out his wand to undo the spells on the terrarium so that I could open the lid and Nagijan could move out of his prison.

  


" Let's look for your owl," Tom said, crossing to the other side of the store that housed the owl cages. When we could not find an owl that I or Nagijan liked, we just paid for Nagijan and headed for Eeylops Owl Emporium, earning fearful looks from all we passed due to the poisonous snake that my guardians allowed to be so close to my neck.

  


We had just stepped inside the shop when I fell in love with a beautiful Snowy Owl. “This one,” I said. Once I was informed that the owl was female, I named her Hedwig. Fortunately, Hedwig and Nagijan seemed to get along well enough with each other, so I was not worried about Nagijan 'accidentally' biting her or Hediwg dropping Nagijan from the air.

  


We finished our shopping trip with a visit to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour before we headed back home to Slytherin manor.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Saturday, 3rd August 1991**

  


_**~Who Will Lead the Potter Heir in His First Dance?** _

  


_**An article by Rita Skeeter** _

  


_**Today is the day, my dear readers! Harry Potter will finally be introduced to society.** _ _**After he was not introduced two years ago,** _ _**, the interests of more than one witch or wizard was piqued.** _ _**Not only is he the sole heir of the Potter fortune, but also a rare Foreas (see** _ _**p** _ _**age 5 for more information). The latter making it possible for him to marry both witches and wizards alike.** _

  


_**Marked by tragedy in his early years, young Harry lost both of his parents to death ten years ago and his godfather Sirius Black** _ _**still lies in a coma to this very day.** _ _**But life is looking up for him now. Together with his godfather Severus Snape, he is living at Slytherin manor with our beloved Lord Slytherin. It was only last Thursday when the three of them** _ _**were spotted at** _ _**Diagon Alley shop** _ _**ping** _ _**for Harry's first year** _ _**at** _ _**Hogwarts (see picture). I'm sure you** _ _**'ll** _ _**agree with me that they look like the perfect family of three.** _

  


_**For the last decade, the number of people who believe that Potions master Severus Snape is our Lord's lover has steadily increased. It certainly would explain why Lord Slytherin is still single and has Snape and young Harry living at Slytherin manor with him. But while he changed the Old laws and fought for the rights of females and Foreas, it is still impossible for him to marry someone that cannot carry his children. That he fought to change laws for young Harry's sake is obvious. The important question is: 'Did he do it for Harry Potter, the child of his lover or for Harry Potter, his fiancé?' Unlike Mr Snape, Harry would be able to give birth to Lord Slytherin's long anticipated heir…** _

  


_**If you look closely at the picture, you can see that Harry Potter is now wearing not only one earring but two. And we all know that silver snake earrings are the symbol for the fiancé of Lord Slytherin. So either Lord Slytherin changed it to the lightening bolts Harry is wearing, or another family had picked up the tradition of the engagement earrings. The most likely family would be the Malfoy's. If you read my article about young Draco Malfoy's introduction to society party two years ago, you'll remember that the Malfoy heir had danced his first dance with his “godbrother” Harry Potter.** _

  


_**There is also the Muggleborn witch Hermione Granger who has been seen in the company of Mr Potter over the last several years. For her a marriage to the Potter heir would allow her an easier entrance into the Wizarding High Society and not to forget access to the Potter fortune and a close connection to Lord Slytherin.** _

  


_**Famous author Gilderoy Lockhart ('Voyages with Vampires') also seemed to have Harry on his radar. When asked about the upcoming introduction to society party, he informed me that he would have been more than thrilled to attend the event and share a dance or two with Harry, unfortunately, he had to decline the invitation. He is currently out of the country trying to save a village from a dangerous creature, which happenings will be described in detail in the last book of his The Travel Trilogy series, coming out around Christmas.** _

  


_**T onight it will be finally revealed as to which fortunate witch or wizards will heal the poor orphan’s broken heart and allow him to start a family of his own. So stay tuned for tomorrow's issue.** _

  


_**Yours faithfully,** _

_**Rita Skeeter~** _

  


“Start a family? I'm eleven not twenty one,” I said angrily as I handed the paper over to Severus. And Lockhart had certainly not been invited to my party. And Severus and Tom being lovers? That particular rumour was started by Skeeter herself. And she was also the one who 'steadily increased' the number of people who believed said rumour.

  


“At least we know what tomorrow's headline will be,” Severus said dryly, not even bothering to read today's article. “And once you're at Hogwarts you'll be safe from the reporters. So you don’t have to worry about what they, and especially Skeeter write about you.”

  


“And while I do not like her,” Tom stated, “I have to admit that her article about the Old Laws was very eye-opening. And you have to give her some credit. She was the first to notice your second earring. I thought that Hermione would notice it during your party and point it out. Lucius certainly would have been able to connect the dots then.”

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Lucius certain was able to connect the dots once he read the _Prophet_ that morning. A second earring so close to my introduction to society party, an engagement that was already agreed upon when I was still a baby. The only person who he would have readily agreed to marry Draco off to at that age would have been Lord Slytherin. _Why didn't I realize it sooner?_ he reproached himself. All the hints had been there for him ever since Severus told him that I was already engaged. The earring, living with Lord Slytherin, the closeness to Nagini.

  


_'But do not give up hope. When Harry_ _turns_ _seventeen, he can either accept or revoke the engagement. So if you still want Harry to marry Draco, you have eight years to convince Harry that Draco would be the better choice,'_ Severus words reverberate in his mind.

  


In the last two years, he had looked for other potential partners for Draco, but because of Severus words he had not completely dismissed me yet. Draco was in a good position for me to fall in in love with, which in turn would make me revoke the engagement with whatever stranger my father picked out. But to try and revoke the engagement between me and Lord Slytherin? This was certainly not something he would dare to try. He would rather give Draco a love potion to make his own son fall in love with someone else than cross his Lord.

  


_Which leaves Zabini as the only other Foreas_ , Lucius mused. _He too will inherit a considerable sum of money but no political power. And having the Black Widow as a mother doesn't speak in his favour. It seems like Draco will have to settle for a witch._

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


“If you do not want to announce our engagement, you can always dance with Severus,” Tom offered for the second time today.

  


“No, I want to dance my first dance with you,” I said determinedly. “Besides, no one can spin me around the dance floor like you do,” I told him, fondly remembering our dance practice this morning where Tom had spun me around and lifted me up in the air like a professional dancer.

  


“I fear the guests will be too shocked by the announcement of our engagement to pay attention to the dance,” Tom said and soon after he left the room to take his place as the host of the party.

  


The guests were not surprise to see Tom sitting right next to me when took my place at the table. Besides Severus, the only other person who counted as close family were my 'godbrother' Draco, and Remus as the lover of my godfather Sirius.

  


When it was time for my first dance, I saw that every person in the room was watching me like a hawk, Skeeter's article this morning had made them all eager to find out who my fiancé was. Already having danced an introduction dance with Draco made me feel less uncomfortable than I would have been otherwise. Deciding to play a bit with them, I slowly got up from my chair and pushed it in with great care. Then, I turned my head to Severus to my left as I watched from the corners of my eyes as the guests' faces showed a mix of displeasure and hope that maybe Skeeter had been wrong and their child still had a chance. But then Severus just nodded at me and I turned to my right.

  


“Lord Slytherin?” I heard someone loudly whisper in shock. Biting my lower lip to hold back a smirk, I purposefully walked past Tom's chair to stand between him and Draco. Draco looked back at me in surprise wondering if something happened that changed my mind to dance with him instead of my fiancé.

  


“Godbrother,” I heard someone say sarcastically into the stillness of the room. “Fiancé's more like it.”

  


“Lord Slytherin,” I finally said in a clear voice, turning to face him. “Will you honour me with this dance?” I finally asked. The guests waited on pins and needles for Tom's reply. Him saying yes would confirm Skeeter's assumption that I could be his fiancé instead of his rumoured lover's charge. Or was I just overstepping my boundaries by asking him to dance with me?

  


“I would love nothing more than to share this dance with you,” Tom answered, taking my hand and leading me to the dance floor. I was surprised that the music could still be heard over the noise of the excitedly talking guests.

  


“It's true,” someone said, shocked.

  


“I'd never thought...” another guest stated.

  


“He's so young,” someone commented on my age.

  


“Rather lucky,” the person next to them answered. “What wouldn't I have given to be in his place. Not only being his fiancé but also living with him all the time.”

  


“That was very Slytherin of you,” Tom whispered into my ear as he spun me around. “They were certainly anxious to find out who you'd finally dance with.”

  


“And they're even more excited now,” I replied.

  


“Hmm,” Tom agreed as he lifted me up into the air as a flash went off, taking the photo that would adorn tomorrow's front page of the _Prophet_.

  


When the dance reached its end, Tom kissed my forehead and handed me over into Draco's arms. At least on the dance floor the guests would not be able to annoy me with questions. As Draco led me across the room, I watched Tom as he spoke with many witches and wizards to confirm that yes, he and I were indeed engaged. And no, he would not change his mind.

  


“So you and Tom?” Draco asked me. I nodded. “At least this explains why you kept it all hushed up.”

  


“You're not angry that I didn't tell you sooner?” I asked.

  


“You told us that you had a fiancé, didn't you?” he asked. Last year I had told him and Hermione about my engagement but that I couldn’t say to whom, only that my father had arranged it and that I was agreeable with it. “If it had been me, I do not think that I could have kept silent for so long.”

  


“Not everyone is a brat like you who has to brag about everything,” I joked and we both laughed.

  


When Severus asked for a dance next, followed by Hermione, Remus, Lucius and all three Lestranges, it became obvious that there plan was to keep me busy on the dance floor until the atmosphere in the room had calmed down enough for me to not be pestered by strangers.

  


When I was finally allowed to sit down and enjoy a drink, Nagini and Nagijan joined me. I could only hope that their presence would keep everyone away from me that was not part of my circle of family and friends.

  


“Ah, I see that Tom got himself a new pet,” a voice suddenly spoke from behind me. Turning around, I was faced with neon green robes which were decorated with sparkling lemon drops.

  


“I can assure you that Harry is _not_ my pet,” Tom angrily said, having quickly walked over to me when he saw Dumbledore approach the head table. He still remembered only too well how adamant the Headmaster had clung to the Old Laws and the laws concerning Foreas and females.

  


“ Tom,” Dumbledore greeted him. “You misunderstood my words. I was referring to the new snake you've gotten, not to your young fiancé.”

  


“Nagijan is mine,” I said. “I'm bringing him to Hogwarts with me.”

  


"But, my dear boy, this is a highly poisonous constrictor. Surely you understand that you cannot bring such a pet to Hogwarts where it would be a danger to the students and to _you_ too," the Headmaster said, trying to separate me from my serpent friend. “Not to forget that Hogwarts' rules only allow the students to bring either a cat, a frog, or an owl."

  


“Harry has my expressive permission as a founder's heir to bring both Hedwig and Nagijan with him, as well as his broom,” Tom informed Dumbledore, placing a supporting hand on my shoulder.

  


“He may be your fiancé, but that is no excuse to make exceptions for him. It will make the other students jealous of him and create unnecessary problems for him. Not to mention that the students will not want to share a dorm with a snake.”

  


“I'm right here,” I told Dumbledore, hating how he was speaking as if I was not sitting just one foot away from where he was standing. “And as a Foreas I'll have my own room, anyway.”

  


“You could still be sharing a dorm with young Blaise Zabini,” the Headmaster said. “He's also a Foreas who will start Hogwarts next month.”

  


I did not know a good comeback to this one. It was very likely that we would both end up in Slytherin and indeed be forced to share a dorm. To my relief though, Tom had a very good counter. “How fortunate that Harry, as my official fiancé can stay in my personal rooms at Hogwarts.”

  


Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and then without saying another word he walked away. It seemed like we had won the small fight of dominance and could enjoy the rest of the party in peace.

  


“Draco can bring his broom to Hogwarts too, can't he?” I asked. “Then at least I would not be the only one getting a special treatment from you,” I added with a wink.

  


“He may,” Tom answered and wrapped his arms around my waist, mindful of Nagini and Nagijan who were coiled around me. Another flash went of, another picture for tomorrow's front page having been taken.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


As we would learn years later, Dumbledore did not walk away in defeat. No, Tom's protectiveness over me had only increased his rising interest in me. What was it about me besides being a Foreas and the Potter heir that made Tom want to marry me? Dumbledore had wondered. Was there something he did not see? Hopefully the next years in Hogwarts would give him some clue about me. And if classes were not enough to bring forth whatever made Tom interested in me than he would find a way to test me. And test me he did.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** Harry will be in Hogwarts during the next 2-4 chapters.


	25. Chapter 20-Part I

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** I know, it took me ages to update this chapter. I hope you are still with me and this story and wish you all a  **Happy New Year!**

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **20 –** **Part I** **-~-~-**

  


“You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the **brave at heart** , their **daring** , **nerve** , and chivalry set Gryffindors apart.

You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are **just and loyal** , those patient Hufflepuffs are true and **unafraid of toil**.

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a **ready mind** , where those of **wit** and **learning** , will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those  **cunning** folks **use any means to achieve their ends** .”

  


(Sorting Hat song of 1991, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)

  


Does being sorted into Gryffindor mean that one cannot be brave at heart and at the same time just and loyal? If Hufflepuffs are unafraid of toil, doesn't this allude that they are willing to spend hours in the library, learning? A ready mind and wit are the signs of a true Ravenclaw but they are also the foundation of cunning. And doesn't using any means to achieve your ends require you to be daring while keeping your nerves?

  


The Sorting Hat may divide the eleven years old who start Hogwarts each year into the four houses, but if you look closely enough, you'll see that a personality that is connected to one Hogwarts house could as easily be applied to one of the remaining three. And maybe that's why the Sorting Hat always gives the first years the option to choose their own house if they believe that its initial choice does not suit them.

  


And in the end, when you leave Hogwarts it is not the house you were sorted into that counts, it is the friendships you developed and deepened, the foes you made, and the memories, good and bad, you take with you as you begin your life as an adult. In my case, I left Hogwarts with the same friends I entered it with, only adding Luna and the Weasley twins into the mix. I certainly made foes, but not because of who I am and for what I did to them, but because of the power my fiancé held. So in reality, I didn’t need the school for friends. The old castle only stood to house those who despised me in close proximity so that I would be fully aware of their dislike, a dislike that stemmed from the article in the Prophet that announced mine and Tom's engagement in the beginning of August.

  


And as for memories. I certainly connect good and bad memories with Hogwarts.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

** Early  A ugust 1991 **

  


To say that my engagement announcement had crashed in like a tsunami would be an understatement. To Tom and Severus it felt like a repeat of Halloween ten years ago. Skeeter was writing up a storm all week, each day mine or Tom's name would make it onto the front-page headline. She began predictably with ' _ **Official: Potter Heir engaged to Lord Slytherin!**_ ' followed by an article about our dance at my introduction to society party. From there the percentage of facts in her articles went rapidly downhill.

  


_**'A Fairy Tale Come True: From Orphan to Lord Consort'**_ she wrote the next day, summarizing for everyone what had happened to my parents and godfather. I stopped keeping track of how often she used ' _ **poor orphan**_ ' when I reached twelve and by then I'd only been half-way through the article.

  


On Tuesday, Skeeter aspired to answer the question ' _ **When Will Lord Slytherin Finally Get His Heir?”**_ Normally such a question would only be asked days before the wedding and not mere days after an engagement announcement. Severus, Tom, and I laughed together about her insane theory that the marriage between Tom and I was purely for the sake of Tom finally getting a legal heir that his long-time lover Severus could not provide him. And who would be a better suited surrogate mother than his lover's godson that they could easily manipulate? Least to say that Skeeter expected me to be with child as soon as I became fertile.

  


Tom took the article as an opportunity to speak with me about the possibility of having children with him. He told me that it was expected of him to have a child one day, which I could understand. The Wizarding World had demanded an heir from him for as long as I could remember. “However,” he'd stressed, “I do not want you to have a child if you do not want one and even less while you're still a child yourself,” he told me.

  


“I want a child. Someday,” I answered, sure of my wishes for the future. “But first I want to go to Hogwarts,” I added excitedly.

  


“I'll give you all the time you want, Harry.” he promised, kissing my forehead. And with this, the topic of children was laid to rest for the next years.

  


Skeeter's article on Wednesday continued where she stopped on Tuesday. ' _ **Lord Slytherin just a father replacement?**_ ' was the title under which she discussed mine and Tom's great age difference and to Severus' amusement now spoke negatively of Tom knocking me up right when I became fertile, saying that Pederasty was totally outdated. It was obvious to us that she'd received some complains from her readers who were strictly against teenage pregnancies.

  


I did not bother to read her next three articles. Instead I spent as much time as possible with Severus, Tom, and Nagini, knowing that once I was at Hogwarts, I would not see them again before I came back home for the Yule holidays. But at least I would have my two best friends as well as Nagijan with me.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


** Sunday , 1st September 1 9 9 1 **

  


September first finally came. Severus joked that I was more hyper than Draco on Christmas morning, but since I woke up Tom instead of him, he did not mind. He and Tom had debated long about whether I should board the Hogwarts Express with everyone else or if it would be safer for me to Floo directly to Hogwarts as the stir the engagement caused had not completely died down yet. Both wanted me to get the full experience: Going through the wall at King's Cross between platforms 9 and 10, the old red steam engine the first thing I would see. Seeing the apparently horse-less carriages the older students would board, while I would reach the castle by boat. Fortunately, an easy solution to their problem was offered by Lucius. He suggested that I could join his family on their trip to King's Cross. With Lucius, Narcissa and the three Lestranges as extra protection, I would be well protected from any delusional witch or wizard who tried to do anything to me in order to again have a chance at becoming Lord Slytherin's consort.

  


So, with both Nagini and Nagijan clinging to me, I walked through the barrier where the Lestranges were already waiting for me. Draco followed right after me, proudly carrying his new Nimbus Two Thousand on his shoulder.

  


“So, when did Draco wake you up?” Severus asked casually when he and Lucius joined us on the other side of the barrier.

  


“At four,” Lucius replied. “Hit me with his broom no less.”

  


I laughed. “And you said I got up earlier than Draco. I only got up at quarter before five.”

  


“I said you're more hyper than him on Christmas morning,” Severus replied.

  


“And Draco only wakes us up at five on Christmas,” Lucius helpfully pointed out.

  


I just showed them my tongue before I turned around, teasing Draco about his broom.

  


Remus soon joined our little group. “Harry,” he greeted me.

  


“Remus,” I greeted him excitedly, but refrained from giving him a hug with the Snakes still around me. “You look sad,” I pointed out.

  


“I'm happy,” he denied but when I gave him a look that clearly said that I did not believe him, he added, “just a bit sad that neither James, Lily, or Sirius could be here today.”

  


I nodded. “I'm happy that you're here. And Draco. And Severus. And Tom,” I said, smiling happily.

  


Remus ruffled my hair. He was happy that the people I cared about most were here with me today, even if he wished that this group of people would also include his best friends, but he knew that only having been around them when I was still a baby, I did not share a deep relationship with them. I knew who they were and I respected them for what they were supposed to be to me: my parents and second godfather. But only knowing stories about them or visiting an unresponsive Sirius in the hospital prevented me from forming any strong attachments with them.

  


“You know that your parents and Sirius will be proud of you, regardless which house you're sorted into?” he more stated than asked.

  


“I know,” I replied. “Though Severus said that Sirius would be proud of me as long as I played a lot of pranks on everyone.”

  


Remus laughed. “That's certainly something he would say. But I believe everyone else would prefer if you were not up to no good. Or at least careful enough to avoid getting caught,” he said with a wink, reminding me of the map he'd gifted me with.

  


“Harry,” Hermione happily greeted me with a hug. Opposed to nearly everyone else, she was not afraid to get close to me even when Nagini was coiled around me. “Hello Nagini,” she greeted Tom's snake softly, gingerly stroking her head. Feeling left out, Nagijan stretched his body. Hermione laughed softly as she also caressed him.

  


Soon it was time to say my goodbyes to Severus and Tom. “Take care,” Severus said. “And don't forget to write!”

  


“I will,” I promised him.

  


“ _Say goodbye to Harry,_ ” Tom ordered Nagini as he held out his arm for her to slide on to.

  


Once I was free of Nagini, Severus used the opportunity to give me a quick but strong hug. “I love you,” we both said at the same time, making us smile gently at the other.

  


“ _I'll miss you, Harry,”_ Nagini told me.

  


“ _I'll miss you too,”_ I replied softly, careful to not be overheard as I petted her.

  


“Enjoy your time at Hogwarts,” Tom wished. “And remember if you need me or Severus, we're just a Floo call away and you can use my rooms whenever you want.”

  


“Thank you,” I said. “I'll miss you,” I told him when I hugged him goodbye.

  


Tom just smiled and affectionately ruffled my hair. While we saw the flash of a camera going off in the corner of our eyes, we doubted that they were able get a good photo with all the people standing around us.

  


“Come on my dear,” Narcissa's voice reached me, “it's time to board the train.” And with this she guided Draco, Hermione and I towards the nearest door.

  


We quickly found a still empty compartment which we claimed for ourselves. Together we opened the slightly jammed window and stuck out our heads. Soon the train left the station and the silhouette of our loved ones got smaller and smaller.

  


During the train ride we discussed which house we would be sorted into. “Ravenclaw,” Draco and I said without doubt when Hermione brought up the topic.

  


“Ravenclaw?” she asked.

  


“Yes, with your love for books you cannot go anywhere but Ravenclaw,” I said, as Draco nodded his agreement.

  


“I don't know,” Hermione replied. “All the houses sound good to me. And I could easily imagine myself being sorted into Hufflepuff as much as Ravenclaw,” she answered.

  


“Let the Hat speak,” Draco said. “Oh, and bet on a History of Magic assignment,” he added, when he remembered that everyone told him how hard is was to write an essay for the subject. Not because Professor Binns' standard was so high, but because it was hard to listen to him, resulting in extra hours spent in the library looking up the topic Professor Binns had already talked about during the lesson.

  


“Only if you offer to check my Potions essay,” Hermione demanded.

  


I smiled. _Typical Hermione, always doing her own homework._

  


“Deal,” Draco said and they both shook hands on it.

  


“No need to bet on your house,” I told Draco.

  


“Yepp. Slytherin through and through,” he said proudly.

  


"And you?” Hermione asked me softly.

  


I leaned further back in my seat. “I don't know. Slytherin is certainly an option, though I don't think I am ambitious enough. So maybe Ravenclaw? Gryffindor if I follow the Potter tradition,” I added more softly because Gryffindor didn't really feel like a serious option for myself.

  


“I wouldn't rule out Slytherin,” Hermione said. “Remember the stunt you pulled off during your Introduction to society?” she asked and we all laughed.

  


“Oh, Hermione,” I began theatrically. “Didn't you know that I was seriously considering ditching Tom in favour of Draco? His Malfoy green robes clash far less with my red Potter robes than Tom's Slytherin green ones.”

  


“And why did you not choose me then?” Draco asked accusingly, playing along. “I am the better looking one, I'll have you know.” Hermione had a hard time holding back her laughter.

  


“Simple,” I stated in a very amused voice, close to laughing myself. “His wand.”

  


“His wand?” Hermione asked disbelievingly. She did not know if I literally meant his wand or if I was using the term slangly.

  


“Yes, his wand.” I replied, trying to stay calm. “You cannot compete with thirteen-and-a-half inches? Can you?” I asked Draco, pointedly looking down at his groin area and then laughed heartily when I saw the look on my best friends face. When I calmed down again, I finally said, “Your wand is only what? Ten inches of finest Hawthorn?”

  


“Harry,” Draco scolded, his face red, shoving me on the side. Hermione laughed.

  


“Come on, Draco,” I said. “Don't you remember that I told you that mine and Tom’s wands are brothers? That's what I was referring to.”

  


“I’d rather sit with someone who appreciates my greatness,” he said and stood up only to let himself fall down in the seat beside Hermione.

  


We all laughed together.

  


“Sounds like you're having fun,” Neville said as he and Susan Bones stood at the door to our compartment.

  


“We are,” Hermione replied.

  


“In my expense,” Draco mumbled under his breath but motioned for the two newcomers to step in and take a seat.

  


“How are you?” Susan asked Hermione. The two girls had gotten to know each other during Hermione's introduction to society party. While only a few guests had attended: the Greengrass sisters, Hanna Abbot, the Patil Twins, Mandy Brocklehurst, Theordore Nott, Neville, and of course Draco and I, Hermione said that she still had a good time. Ronald Weasley had also been invited, however due to the animosity with Draco's family they'd declined the invitation.

  


“I'm fine. Excited to finally see Hogwarts,” Hermione told her and soon the compartment was filled with friendly chatter once more.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


All too soon, the time flew by and all of us where standing in line in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, waiting to be sorted.

  


From our group, Hermione was the first to go up. I noticed how Hermione first looked towards the Ravenclaw table, then over to the Slytherin table before her eyes rested on me and Draco. Soon after the Sorting Hat announced, “Ravenclaw!”

  


“Told you,” Draco said smugly to Hermione who walked passed us to take her seat at the Ravenclaw table, but he still clapped as loudly as I for her.

  


“Slytherin,” the hat, as expected, announced when it was Draco's turn.

  


And then, after Sally-Anne Perks was sorted into Hufflepuff, it was finally my turn to put on the Sorting Hat. I ignored the whispers that went around the room. With the freshness of the engagement announcement, it was to be expected. With Draco and Hermione having been sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw, I did not mind getting either house, having the comfort of knowing that I would still be together with one of my friends.

  


_Ah, Mr Potter,_ the hat greeted me. _Quite interesting that growing up surrounded by so many Slytherins, Lord Slytherin amongst them, makes you value books and knowledge so much._

  


_Ravenclaw then,_ I thought.

  


_It's an option, but is it the best place for you?_ the Sorting Hat asked me. _You certainly posses_ _s_ _qualities that all founders value. However I believe that_ “Slytherin” _would be the best place for you_ _to grow into the best man you could be_ _._

  


Relieved, I took my place at the Slytherin table right beside Draco who reserved me a seat. _At least I won't have to worry about my new house mates not tolerating Nagijan,_ I though as Draco clapped my back in congratulation.

  


I looked across the room at Hermione who gently smiled at us. As expected, we were still friends, regardless of our new Hogwarts houses. “Poor Skeeter,” I said sarcastically to Draco. “Now she can't write the star-crossed lover article about Gryffindor and Slytherin finally being united.”

  


“Oh, how shall we all live without reading how the _poor orphan_ Harry so _bravely_ followed after his parents and entered Gryffindor house. How _scared_ must the young boy be to find himself suddenly amongst Gryffindors instead of Slytherins? Oh, the danger!” Draco said theatrically, acting as if he was about to swoon.

  


“Pay attention, you two,” one of the older students chided us. While Regulus Black, the newly appointed Head of Slytherin house was on very good terms with Severus and Lucius, and of course Tom, neither of us wanted to risk a detention or point loss on our first day. Therefore, we stopped our banter for the moment and quietly listened as the last students were sorted.

  


“Seems like you'll share your room,” Draco told me when Blaise Zabini was also sorted into Slytherin.

  


I just shrugged. I expected the other boy to join Slytherin thus, it was always a possibility that I would be forced to share a room with the only other Foreas in our year. “If worse comes to worse, I always have Nagijan to rely on,” I told him.

  


In the end, both Zabini and I received a room of our own. Apparently Zabini was so afraid of Nagijan that he vehemently protested about staying in the same room as the snake and thus Draco offered to share the Foreas room with me, while Zabini would, for the moment, stay in the normal boys’ dorm, arguing that since neither of us was fertile right now, it would not really matter if with whom we shared a room. Professor Black rejected the idea. His Lord had ordered him to apply for the newly opened position in DADA so that he could keep an eye on me and ensure that nothing bad happened to me.

  


“I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy,” he began. “As the fiancé of Lord Slytherin, I cannot allow anyone but another Foreas to share a room with Mr Potter.”

  


“Then make him get rid of the snake,” Zabini had demanded.

  


“I'm afraid, I cannot allow that either,” he answered.

  


“But snakes are against school rules,” Zabini argued.

  


“I have special permission to bring Nagijan,” I said and not wanting the discussion in the Slytherin common room to drag on until the wee hours of the morning—we were already drawing enough attention as it was—I added, “I can always stay in another room.”

  


“I'm sorry, Mr Potter. But there are no other rooms available,” Professor Black told me.

  


“Don't worry. To—Lord Slytherin said I could stay in his personal rooms if needed.”

  


Professor Black looked at Zabini, Draco, and I before he said, “Very well, you can stay in Lord Slytherin's rooms while Mr Zabini will stay in the Foreas dorm. The curfew still applies to you though,” he told me, giving me a stern look. “Do you need me to guide you to Lord Slytherin's quarters?”

  


“I'll find it on my own, thank you,” I replied and said goodbye to Draco. “See you at breakfast.”

  


Once I was out of sight, I pulled out the Marauders Map that Remus gave me and walked up the stairs to the second floor where Lord Slytherin's private rooms were located.

  


_"Dumbledore is insane,"_ I hissed at the portrait of a silver-blue Ouroboros who guarded the entrance to my new rooms. I made sure that no one was nearby before speaking Parseltongue. Once inside, I hissed “ _Close_ ,” to make the wall manifest again. Curious, I looked around. I'd entered a comfy but sparsely furnished living room, complete with two armchairs, a coffee table, and a comfy rug in front of a lit fireplace. I gently deposited Nagijan on the rug.

  


Walking further into the room, I opened the only door which led me to the bedroom. Like the living room, it was sparsely furnished, dark red-brown wood with some black, silver, and green accents. I laughed when I saw that my trunk had already been placed at the foot of the king-size bed. From the bedroom, I was able to enter the bathroom and was surprised at how large it was. It was about the same size as the bedroom and had both a big tub and shower.

  


Since I was already in Tom's rooms, I decided to spare myself the long trip up to the Owlery and instead contacted Tom via the living room Floo. Finding some Floopowder on the mantel, I threw a handful in the flames and called out _“Slytherin Manor._ ” The Parseltongue a security measure Tom had installed to ensure that none but him, and now also I, would be able to use the Floo to leave and enter this room.

  


“What?” an annoyed Tom asked from behind his desk, but once he saw that it was me who was contacting him, his whole demeanour changed. “Harry, is something wrong?” he asked me, obviously worried.

  


“No, everything is fine,” I replied. “I just wanted to tell you that I was sorted into Slytherin.” Here Tom smirked. Once the Hogwarts Express had left the station, he, Remus, and Lucius had placed bets on my Hogwarts house. While Remus had been in favour of Ravenclaw, Lucius had placed his money on Gryffindor 'Like father, like son' had been his reasoning.

  


“I'm happy to hear this,” he replied.

  


“There also was a little problem,” I told him. “But don't worry it all worked out.” At Tom's encouraging hand gesture, I elaborated. “Zabini, the other Foreas, was also sorted into Slytherin. However, he is so afraid of Nagijan that he stubbornly refused to share a room with me. So, I hope you don't mind that I'm staying in yours?”

  


“Not at all,” Tom replied. “While I'd not offered it with such a situation in mind, I'm happy that you’ll make use of it. I'll come by tomorrow after classes to see if there is anything you may need.”

  


I smiled. I would always be happy to see Tom. “Will you tell Severus that I said hi?” I asked him.

  


“Of course,” he replied. “Sweet dreams, Harry.”

  


“You too,” I answered before I ended the Floo call.

  


As I lay in bed, I thought about the day. Staying here certainly had its perks. I had a whole set of rooms to myself where no one would be able to pester me and even the teachers would be unable to check up on me if I was out of bed after curfew. And the Floo was a bonus too.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


On the following morning, Hermione joined Draco and I at the Slytherin table, where she excitedly told us how much she loved that one had to answer a question to gain entrance to the Ravenclaw common room instead of just saying a password.

  


When I informed her that I was staying in Tom's private rooms because Zabini was afraid of Nagijan, Hermione shook her head in disbelieve. It was then when the three of us looked over at Zabini. He was reading a letter he’d just received with a pained look on his face. We watched as he stood on shaking legs and made his way up to the head table where he approached our head of house. After a quick discussion, both Zabini and Professor Black walked backed towards the Slytherin table, stopping right behind us.

  


“Mr Potter,” Professor Black greeted me. “After some consideration, Mr Zabini believes that he will no longer mind sharing a room with you.”

  


“I very much doubt it,” Draco commented. While Zabini was not shaking anymore, it was clear that he was still uncomfortable.

  


“I'm sure that Lord Slytherin ordered it to behave itself,” Zabini said. It was clear that he was only wishing this to be true instead of actually believing his own words.

  


“Nagijan,” I said, careful to not slip into Parseltongue. Already knowing what his name sounded like in human tongue, a trick he must have learned from Nagini, he raised his head from beneath my robes. “With all due respect, Professor,” I began as Zabini took a step back from us. “It is more than obvious that Zabini is still very much uncomfortable with the idea of staying close to Nagijan. I can only assume that the letter he received this morning included an order, probably from his mother, to share a room with me, regardless of his own feelings on the matter. Thus, I propose for both mine and his ease of mind that we stay with the room arrangement we agreed on yesterday.”

  


Taking a look at Zabini, Professor Black agreed with me.

  


“Lord Slytherin's fiancé,” the three of us said in unison once we were alone again. There was nothing else which needed to be said in regards to Mrs Zabini's motivation. Being my dorm mate would have been an easy way to try and get close to me and in turn get close to Lord Slytherin.

  


“At least I know who my true friends are,” I told them and lay an arm around each of their shoulders.

  


“To friendship,” Hermione saluted with her cup of pumpkin juice. Draco and I soon joined in.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


As Draco and I soon found out, being Lord Slytherin's fiancé was not the only reason why people liked or disliked me. It was our first potion class with Professor Emerald Peepers, called the ghoul by the rest of the student body due to her pale skin, bulging eyes, and overly sharp filed fingernails when it started.

  


“Mr Potter, tell me what will I get if I add Powdered Root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?” she asked me.

  


I knew that the answer was “The Draught of Living Death” but I still looked confused at Draco. _Surely this was not a question that she should be asking a first year student?_

  


“And what is the Draught of Living Death?” she continued. “Maybe Mr Malfoy knows it?”

  


“It is a very potent sleeping potion,” he replied.

  


“Where would you look if I tell you to find me a Bezoar?” she asked, looking at no one in particular. “No idea, Mr Malfoy?” she taunted.

  


“The stomach of a goat,” Draco replied, when it became clear that she was asking him.

  


“And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?” she asked next, looking right at me.

  


“There is no difference. Monkshood and Wolfsbane are only different names for the same plant which is also known as Aconite,” I replied, starting to wish that she would consume some Draught of Living Death to make her shut up. Fortunately, she just cleared her throat in annoyance and finally began her lesson that was more suited to first year students.

  


It was only in the afternoon, when Tom visited me in his rooms that I found out why she'd been grilling me and Draco with questions. Apparently, Severus had been accepted as an apprentice by the Potion master she'd wanted to study under. Considering that Severus was five years her junior, she'd been very much angered by it and held a grudge against him ever since. With how skilled Severus was, she'd no way to directly get back at him thus she sought out his two godsons to try and embarrass him. When she noticed that we'd obviously had some experience with Potions, she stopped. For now, at least.

  


“Great,” I moaned.

  


Tom chuckled. “Don't worry, Harry. I'm confident that you and Draco can show her who of you is the better person and Potions master.” After a pause, he asked, “Is there anything else you'll need besides a writing desk and chair?”

  


“No,” I answered. “Oh, wait. Maybe a shelf for my books?”

  


“Sure,” Tom said and left to get the mentioned furniture.

  


When I came back from dinner, not only was the desk, chair, and shelf added to the living room, but Tom had also added a loveseat. “For your friends,” Tom explained. “While I'd prefer you not to invite people into these rooms, I can understand that there are times when you'll need a secluded place to discuss private matters with Hermione and Draco.”

  


“Thank you,” I said and hugged Tom.

  


“You’re welcome.”

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


It was not long before I had my first encounters with the different members of the Weasley family. Since we were in the same year, Ronaled Weasley was the first one I met. Draco and I were discussing which positions we would apply for during Sytherin's Qudditch try-outs on our way into DADA when the redhead purposefully bumped into me.

  


“Oi, you're first years, you cannot try out for the Quidditch team,” he said.

  


“But we can, Weasley,” Draco said haughtily.

  


“In your dreams, Malfoy!” was Ronald's reply.

  


“No, in yours. You see, Lord Slytherin was kind enough to grant both of us a special permission to bring our brooms with us. And with brooms we can play Quidditch.”

  


While I admit that Draco could have explained the situation a lot more considerately to the other's feelings, the curse Weasley in turn decided to throw at me was not justified.

  


“Eat slugs you little whore,” he said and then pointed his wand at me, calling out, “Slugulus Eructo,”

  


Only thanks to my good reflexes was I able to barely duck below the green curse that sailed over my head.

  


“Mr Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention,” Professor Black, who just then entered the classroom, said.

  


Weasley put away his wand, complaining, “Saved by the whore's lapdog,” under his breath.

  


“Fifty points and a week of detention.”

  


Draco snickered beside me as we took out seats in the first row. However, after class, it was Draco and I who were asked to stay behind.

  


“Mr Malfoy,” he began, “our Lord has not called me back from my travels just to arbitrate the century long Malfoy-Weasley feud. I'm here to ensure that the students do not try to harm Mr Potter simply because he is Lord Slytherin's fiancé. I would rather have this year end without any incidents so that I can resign and continue my research in Egypt. Understood?” he asked sternly.

  


“Understood,” Draco said.

  


“Good,” he said and dismissed us.

  


Once we were out of earshot Draco said, “With him being Sirius’ brother one would expect him to be a lot friendlier to us. Or at least to you.”

  


“Regulus and Sirius were never close. Besides, I only met him once or twice before now as he's always travelling around, exploring the different kinds of magic that excited all over the world.” I explained.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


The next Weasley I had a personal encounter with was Percy. I'd stayed down in the Slytherin common rooms, celebrating with the rest of the house my appointment as this year's Seeker. Draco had only been named reserve Chaser as Marcus, this year's captain and Chaser, had said that the trio with him, Adrian, and Sekhmet worked too good to be divided. But as Sekhmet would be graduating this year, Draco was sure to get her position next year. If he did not try anything stupid to send Sekhmet to the hospital wing so that he could play in her stead.

  


With all the celebration, we'd forgotten the time. While Draco offered to share his bed for the night, I'd declined, opting to sneak my way back to my rooms. It was only on the second floor, so it should be safe enough. To my vexation, I'd not taken the Marauders Map with me and after only two weeks I was still not familiar with all the secret passages and short cuts. So, as my luck would have it, prefect Percy Weasley had spotted me before I was able to make it to my rooms. _And I_ _had_ _just been a turn away,_ I thought in annoyance but dutifully nodded my head when he lectured me on the importance of the curfew, especially for someone as young as I, and deducted five points from my house.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


The next day, I met Fred and George Weasley or as they like to call themselves Forge and Gred on my way to have breakfast in the Great Hall.

  


“Congratulation, Potter” one of them began.

  


“First year and already on the Quidditch team,” the other twin finished.

  


“Youngest Seeker in a century,” Fred added.

  


“Well done,” George added and both held out a hand for me to shake, which I took. “I'm George Wesley by the way.”

  


“And I'm Fred. Looks like the snake has grown overnight,” Fred commented. “Nagijan was his name, right?”

  


“Yes, my snake is called Nagijan,” I said. “But this is Nagini,” I corrected.

  


“Lord Slytherin's Nagini?” Fred asked.

  


“The one and only,” I replied. “Nagijan is still as large as yesterday,” I said and as if called, my own snaked poked out his head from beneath Nagini’s larger body.

  


“So how come she's with you?” George asked this time.

  


“Tom said that she missed me. And since it's the weekend, he brought her over for the day.”

  


“Translates: She bugged him until he gave in,” Fred said to his twin. “But don't tell him that I said that,” he added to me.

  


“He'll skin you alive for sure,” George commented and the three of us laughed together.

  


“Don't worry,” I replied. “He won't skin you. He'll leave it to Severus. Fresh Potion ingredients being the best and all that.”

  


“Speaking about fresh. Our little Ronniekins was really mad when he heard that you made the team,” George said.

  


“I would say be careful, but with how thinks are looking,” Fred said, eyeing Nagini, “I doubt he'll do anything.”

  


“And if he does, just send a spider his way,” George suggested.

  


“A little, tiny one will suffice,” Fred added.

  


“Thank you,” I replied.

  


You're welcome,” they said in unison. I had the feeling that we could become really good friends, which we did. I even got the feeling that they’d sent less Bludgers in my direction during Quidditch matches than to the other Slytherin players.

  


And in the end, it was not me who sent a tiny, little spider Ronald's way but Hermione. The two of them shared Charms and when he so rudely made fun of her when she only wanted to help him with the right pronunciation of “Wingardium Leviosa” Hermione decided to demonstrate the spell for him with a spider she spotted in the corner of the room which she 'helpfully' levitated on his left hand.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Emerald Peepers:** A little word play. Emerald is associated with the colour green, whereas peepers is the slang word for eyes. Together they make Green-eyed, add the nickname ghoul and you have: green-eyed monster aka: jealousy.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** I hope to update the other half in 1-2 weeks.


	26. Chapter 20-Part II

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** some slightly scary scenes

**AN:** Here is the promised  2nd  part of chapter 20.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **20** **-** **Part II** **~-~-**

  


As it turned out, Nagini's weekend visits were a very good thing. It was during Halloween when she visted me outside her usual every third Sunday of the month schedule. She had thought I could use her extra comfort on the anniversary of my parent’s death. We all knew that it was just a pretence; she loved scaring Ronald Weasley and Zabini too much.

  


Knowing that she was coming, I'd hurried to my rooms as soon as classes were finished, not wanting Tom to have to wait for me. With both Nagini and Nagijan in tow I went to the library to meet up with Hermione and Draco. Luckily Tom had charmed Madam Pince during his own Hogwarts time so well that she did not mind at all when I brought the snakes with me to the library. Neville was not so lucky. One time his toad Trevor had ended up in the library, in the Restricted Section no less, and in punishment poor Neville had been forbidden to enter the library for two whole days.

  


As we worked on our Transfiguration and Potions essays we lost track of time, making us late for dinner. We were just about to sit down at the Ravenclaw table when Professor Peepers ran into the Great Hall. “Troll in the dungeons!” she screamed.

  


“Silence,” Headmaster Dumbledore called over the raised, panic stricken voices in the hall. “The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws will follow their prefects to their common rooms. The Slytherins will assemble in the Defence classroom and the Hufflepuffs will go to the History of Magic classroom,” he ordered.

  


“At least he had the presence of mind to not send us back to the dungeons,” Draco said as he calmly walked towards the doors.

  


“Do you want to come to my rooms?” I offered. “Tom should already be there.”

  


“Thank you, Harry,” Hermione said. “But I’ll go with the rest of my house mates, less they start to worry about my whereabouts. You should go though,” she added when she saw me rethinking my decision to walk to my rooms instead of the DADA classroom. “I’m sure Lord Slytherin’s help with the troll will be welcomed.”

  


On the staircase on the first floor, we split ways. “Go,” Draco told me. “I’ll let them know where you are.”

 

As I hurriedly walked down the corridor that would lead me to another staircase which would bring me the fasted to my rooms, I suddenly saw a mountain troll with a large club coming my way. _Not good,_ I thought as I turned around to take the long way up to my rooms. When I dared to take a quick look back I saw with fear the door to the boys’ toilets pushing open into the hall. _Not good at all,_ I thought when I saw the troll set his eyes on the unlucky person who had decided to leave the toilets at this very moment.. _What can I do? What can I do?_ I asked myself as I watched in horror as the troll walked straight towards the bathroom. At least whoever was in there had the sense to get away from the door. But making a run for it would have been a better option then to corner themselves inside. _Why didn’t they run out?_

  


“ _Harry,”_ Nagini suddenly interrupted my thoughts. _“Don’t_ _just_ _stay here,_ ” she chided me.

  


If she was asking me to run for it or to help the boy, I did not know. But it did not matter. _Of course, I have Nagini and Nagijan with me!_ I realised with relief. _“_ _Nagini? Nagijan?”_ I asked. _“Do you think you can distract the troll?”_

  


“ _Distract it?”_ Nagijan asked. _“Why not kill it?”_

  


“ _I’ll take care of it,”_ Nagini said as she moved down from my body which jumped at the loud and violent crash of the troll’s club as I watched in horror how the mountain troll careening into the bathroom door, destroying it. _“You stay here and protect Harry!”_ she ordered Nagijan.

  


“ _I can help!”_ Nagijan protested just as the first high scream reached my ears.

  


“ _Do as I say,”_ Nagini ordered. _“You do not want anything to happen to Harry, do you?”_ she asked, but did not wait for an answer as she hurried towards the destroyed door.

  


“ _Hurry!”_ I called out when I heard a second scream coming from inside the toilets.

  


“ _Stay here!”_ Nagijan ordered me when I took a step closer.

  


The screams were followed by another crash of splintering wood. Suddenly I was desperate to hear another scream, a sign of life, a terrified life, but a life that had not been bludgeoned away. I made to step forwards again but then came a thud. I heard with anguish as apparently some of the stalls were destroyed as whoever was inside screamed once more before I heard a loud thud. I could only hope that it was the echo of the troll’s head against the stone floor. With bated breath I waited for something else to happen as I slowly stepped closer, this time not stopped by Nagijan.

  


“Thank Merlin,” I said with relief when I saw an unhurt Nagini leaving the boys’ toilets. _“Are you alright?”_ I asked her.

  


“ _Of course,”_ Nagini answered as she slithered up my body. _“Just a bit cold from the wet floor.”_

  


“ _Let me help you,”_ I said and took out my wand to cast a drying and warming charm. While I had not completely mastered these charms yet, they worked well enough to vanish most of the water and warm her up again.

  


“ _Yuck, troll,”_ she complained. _“I’ll never get rid of the taste again. Let me tell you, never bite a mountain troll._ _I_ _t’s horrible, worse than skunk.”_

  


“ _What about the boy that was inside?”_ I asked as I continued my way to the bathroom.

  


“ _He stinks too. No worse than the troll though! Just_ _wet_ _himself,”_ Nagini replied. _“Yuck,”_ she complained once more, sticking out her tongue.

  


Cautiously I looked inside the boys’ toilets. The hopefully dead troll was lying face down on the wet bathroom floor. Greenish blood was still seeping out from wounds on both of his heels.

  


“ _H_ _e was very easy to trip._ _Bit him in both heels as he fell,_ _”_ Nagini described. _“The rest was_ _child_ _’s play_ _,”_ she said proudly and nodded towards the troll’s neck. It was bleeding too. The mountain troll was definitely dead, I had no doubt about it anymore. With such a neck-wound he could no longer be alive even if Nagini’s poison was not lethal.

  


Only when I moved my eyes away from the troll on the floor, did I finally see who the boy inside the bathroom was. “Neville!” I called out and ran towards my friend who was huddled on the bathroom floor in the farthest corner of the room, surrounded by debris and water. “Are you okay?”

  


“Har—ry,” he stammered out, only daring to open his left eye a bit to look at me.

  


“It’s okay, Neville,” I tried to say as soothingly as I could while I ignored Nagini’s continued complaints about the after-taste of troll flesh. “You’re safe now. The troll is dead.”

  


My words made him turn slowly towards the troll but he shut his eyes again quickly before clutching his stomach and puking. The gruesome sight must have been too much.

  


“Let’s get you out of here,” I said and lifted him up which was a bit difficult considering that Nagini was still coiled around me. I saw that Neville had in his fear wet himself, but I believed that this was the last of his worries right now.

  


Once out in the corridor, I saw Professor Black, Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore approaching us.

  


“What are you doing here?” Professor McGonagall asked us sternly. “You were supposed to go back to your common rooms.”

  


“I was on my way back to my rooms when I saw the troll. When he went after Neville Nagini had the presence of mind to go after it, Professor,” I ended my explanation, only adding the respectful “Professor” as an afterthought when I saw her lips drawing thinner with every word I spoke. “Oh, and the troll is dead now,” I informed my own Head of House and watched how he and Dumbledore entered the destroyed toilets.

  


“Let’s get you to the hospital wing,” Professor McGonagall said and conjured a stretcher for the still shaking Neville, Nagini still complaining about the foul taste in her mouth.

  


“I’ll just go to my rooms,” I said, wanting nothing more than to get away from here, now that Neville was in good hands.

  


“You’re coming with me, Mr Potter,” she said sternly.

  


“But Lord Slytherin is waiting for me. He’ll worry if I don’t show up soon,” I argued.

  


“Come on, Minerva. It is clear that Mr Potter is unharmed,” Professor Black spoke up. “He was wise enough to leave the troll to someone who could handle it,” he said and looked at Nagini.

  


“I quite agree,” the headmaster joined in. “Sometimes it is braver to step back than to charge into the breach. Twenty points to Slytherin, I would say.” Though the look in his eyes made me feel that he was not happy with how I handled the situation.

  


“Thank you, Headmaster,” I replied. “I’ll be on my way now.” I hurried past them towards the staircase I’d originally intended to take.

  


When I finally entered my rooms, Tom was already waiting for me. “You’re a bit late. Eaten too many pumpkin pies?” he asked.

  


“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “Do you want the good or bad news first?” I asked Tom.

  


“The good.”

  


“Nagini protected me from a troll that was trying to kill me,” I answered.

  


“The bad?” he asked as his eyes searched for Nagini who was missing, already fearing that something had happened to her.

  


“She won't stop complaining about the bad taste that's nested in her mouth. Nagijan took her hunting in the Forbidden Forest to try and get rid of it.” I saw how Tom let out a relieved sigh. “She’s safe. I’m safe thanks to her,” I told him as I hugged him tightly. We sat down on the loveseat, me cuddled into his side as we waited for our snakes to return from their hunting trip.

  


The next morning while Tom was busy investigation how the troll was able to enter Hogwarts groundsand even more alarming, the castle itself, I visited Neville in the hospital wing with Draco and Hermione. As it turned out, Ronald Weasley had teased Neville, stealing his Remembrall and said that he’d hidden it in one of the toilets. So Neville had spent all of dinner searching through all the toilets he knew trying to find the gift from his grandmother. When Professor McGonagall heard this, she gave Weasley a week of detention and detracted twenty points from her own house. When forced to give back the Remembrall, Weasley admitted that he’d just thrown it out of one of the windows. He didn’t even remember which one.

  


Needless to say, Regulus Black did not get his wish of an uneventful year and thus was forced to stay for another year. In the end, I was taught DADA by Professor Black during all of my Hogwarts years. However, to Regulus’ great joy, it was not the same Professor Black who taught DADA the whole seven years I attended Hogwarts.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


After my first year with the whole troll in the boys’ toilets incident and winning all three Quidditch games as Slytherin’s newest Seeker, my second year was rather uneventful. At least if one excluded my newly founded fan club consisting of Ginerva Weasley and Colin Creevey. In retrospect, I really should not have saved Ginerva from thumbling down the Gryffindor stands during the Quidditch game and instead should have trusted Dumbledore or one of the other teachers to cast a charm to break her fall.

  


She’d been so excited cheering her two brothers on and then threateningly swinging her arm at Marcus for foul play that she went falling over the railing. Since I’d been flying near the stands in search for the Snitch when it happened, I instinctively grabbed her mid-flight and brought her back towards the stands. Creevey had nothing better to do than to catch the moment with his camera.

  


While I’d been happy that nothing happened to Fred and George’s baby sister, the two jokesters having become good friends of mine, I certainly could have lived without the resulting hero-worshipping from both Ginerva and Creevey. At least Ronald tried to talk them out of it, while the twins with big grins on their faces happily encouraged the formation of the Harry-Potter-fanclub. It was times like these when I was very happy about Nagijan’s constant presence at my side. And the larger he grew, the more people started to fear him.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


“HARRY, your favourite aunty is here,” Bellatrix called joyfully as she stepped out of the fireplace in the second week of the summer holidays.

  


“Aunt Bella,” I greeted her with a hug some moments later, Tom watching us from the doorway. Severus was too busy in his Potions lab to come upstairs, even if he heard her, but then he always got like this the week before we went on our summer holiday trip.

  


“Oh, Harry,” she began as she hugged me even tighter. “I have good news, really good news,” she said enthusiastically.

  


“What is it?” Tom asked, curious.

  


“It’s your godfather,” she said.

  


“Severus?” I asked.

  


“No,” she said, her smile growing. I’m talking about your other godfather, “Sirius.”

  


“Has he woken up?” I asked, looking up at her with big eyes. _Remus will be so happy about this._

  


“Ehm, not yet,” she said, sounding less joyous than before. “But he’s begun to move. After sleeping peacefully for all these years, he’s now finally moving, thrashing his arms around widely. So we’re really hopeful that he’ll wake up soon. I was hoping that you would want to visit him with me. See if he’ll react to your voice?” she offered, excited again.

  


“Sure,” I told her with a smile. It had been a while since I last visited Sirius.

  


Tom accompanied us, Severus promising to go to the hospital once his potions were stable. As we walked through St Mungo’s, Bellatrix told us that they still did not know what had triggered the sudden change after twelve years. Remus was more than relieved though. The ten year anniversary had brought about the looming question of letting Sirius go for good. Just sleeping forever in a hospital bed was not the life he would have wanted for himself. Remus had decided to hang on to hope though and wait and now, two years on, that decision was finally seeing the justification he needed, we all needed.

  


“Remus,” I greeted when I entered Sirius’ hospital room.

  


“Thank you for coming,” he replied, only shortly looking at me before his gaze returned to his lover.

  


“Any new changes?” Bellatrix asked.

  


“No,” Remus said, shaking his head.

  


“It took twelve years to come this far, it may take a while longer until he wakes up,” Tom said as he placed a comforting hand on Remus’ shoulder. I sat down next to Remus and told Sirius about everything that happened since my last visit. Sometimes it seemed as if he was reacting to what I said, but I could not be sure.

  


To everyone’s relief it did not take Sirius another twelve years to wake up. It was on August, sixth when an even more joyous Bellatrix Flooed to Slytherin Manor. “HARRY!” she called, “Sirius is awake!”

  


I smiled when I heard the good news. However, I got the feeling that I was happier for Remus’ sake than for my own.

  


“Will you come to St Mungo’s with me?” she asked. “Sirius is asking about you.”

  


“Of course,” I said. “Just let me leave a message for Severus and Tom.”

  


“Harry, oh how you have grown,” were the first words Sirius spoke to me. For someone whose been in bed for over a decade he still could hug with the strength of a bear.

  


“How are you?” I asked.

  


“Good,” he replied, “Happy to finally have escaped Azkaban.”

  


“Azkaban?” I asked in confusion.

  


“We do not know for certain yet,” Bella spoke up. “But it seems like he was trapped in some kind of spell that made him think that he was in Azkaban, surrounded by Dementors. When he started to show some movement a while ago, it was probably the time when he broke free and swam to the shore.”

  


“That’s horrible,” I said.

  


“I don’t think I would have made it if it wasn’t for my Animagus form,” he said. “It helps to know that it was all in my head. Where is your dad?” he asked.

  


I hesitated. I did not want to upset him further, especially after what he already been through.

  


“Sirius,” Remus said softly, taking his lover’s hand.

  


“NO!” he yelled, as Bellatrix guided me out of the room. This was not something she wanted me to see and if my godfather was in his right mind, he wouldn’t want me to see him like that either.

  


The Healers forced him to stay in the hospital for another two weeks. When he was finally dismissed on the basis that he would take some post-trauma potions and see a Healer if he needed one, he returned home to Grimmauld Place. After staying at home for a week, he could not take it anymore. He needed to do something or he would go mad. Going back to the Aurors would be an option but it didn’t feel right without James. Learning to work with a new Auror partner felt like he would be betraying his best friend. So he would need to find something new.

  


As his luck would have it, his brother Regulus came to visit him on the 29th for Sunday dinner. As his brother told him about all the places he wanted to visit, his summer trip to Iceland had been far too short, Sirius considered travelling with Remus around the world. As a diplomat, Remus would be travelling anyway, and maybe he could even finally get the courage to ask his lover to marry him. But then, an even better idea had crossed his mind. Why not teach DADA for Regulus? It would be killing two birds with one stone. His brother would be free to travel the world and he wanted a new job. As an ex-Auror he was more than qualified to teach Defence and it would also allow him to spend more time with me. He’d missed enough of my life as it was.

  


Getting Regulus on board did not take long; for him it was the best early birthday present his big brother could have given him. Tom took a bit longer to agree to the idea as Regulus had only been posted at Hogwarts for my protection and he could not be one hundred percent certain that Sirius was already completely recovered and thus fit for the task. But in the end, the Black brothers were successful in their endeavour.

  


After the second DADA lesson, I had to forcefully remind Sirius to treat me like any other student in his class but it didn’t stop him from cheering for me the loudest during Quidditch matches or gifting me with a brand new firebolt. Hermione told me that it was funny to watch him getting chided by Professor McGonagall whenever he did not behave like any other neutral teacher to which he always replied, “You’re just jealous that he’s not a Gryffindor.”

  


The more time I spent with Sirius, the more I understood why Remus loved him so much. With his sometimes childlike, hyper, and prank-loving personality, he was the complete opposite of Remus. But together, they complemented each other, bringing out each other’s best.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


It was the night between the 11th and the 12th November when I had my first wet dream. Severus had already explained to me briefly what would happen to my body during puberty and gave me a book that I could consult at my own time without getting embarrassed. During his short explanation, he’d especially focused on wet dreams. Unlike girls, Foreas don't have menstruations, so their fertility must be confirmed from another source. One of the signs was the breaking of the voice and the second was the first wet dream. Thus, he’d asked me to inform him when it happened so that we could go to Healer Scribner who would perform the fertility test.

  


Of course, I had to experience my fist wet dream when Severus was out of the country on a Potions conference, which left me with two other options: Either ask Sirius to go with me, or Tom. Since Tom as Lord Slytherin would hear about the test anyway, I went with the latter option. I was still embarrassed though. This was not something any boy wanted to talk about.

  


“Tom?” I said, when I reached him through the Floo. “Ehm, do you have some free time this week?” I asked.

  


“I always have time for you, Harry,” he replied. “And if not, I’ll shift some appointments.”

  


“Good,” I said, then after a moment of hesitating, I continued. “I need to go to St Mungo’s.”

  


“Are your all right Harry?” he instantly asked, stepping closer to the Floo.

  


“I am,” I said. “I just ehm needtoseeHealerScribner,” I finally blurred out.

  


Tom looked at me with big eyes. “Can you please repeat the last part?” he asked kindly.

  


Turning a deep shade of red, I said once more, “I need to see Healer Scribner.” When Tom still did not react, I added, “Foreas test?”

  


“Ah, sorry. I’ll call him and make an appointment,” he replied. “You’re free at five?” he asked. I nodded.

  


The fertility test itself was a lot less embarrassing then asking Tom to go there with me. When we entered, Healer Scribner respectfully greeted Tom and then just cast a complicated spell that produced a parchment with my test results.

  


“Do you still need the third copy?” he asked Tom. Usually one copy went into the patient’s folder, one to the parents and a third one to Lord Slytherin. With Lord Slytherin accompanying me, he did not know if the parents’ copy was still needed.

  


“Yes, it cannot hurt for Severus to have his own copy,” Tom replied.

  


Since the Healer only congratulated Tom on a well chosen fiancé, Tom kindly handed one of the two copies to me.

  


_**~FERTILITY-TEST-RESULTS** _

_**Patient: Harry James Potter** _

_**Date of Birth: 31.07.1980** _

_**Test date: 12.11.1993** _

_**Semen:** _

_**Sperm-percentage: 5%** _

_**Sperm-mobility: Dreadful** _

_**Overall: INFERTILE** _

_**Ova:** _

_**Ova-count: 17** _

_**fertile ova: 1** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_**Done by: Marc Scribner~** _

  


“Why don’t we have dinner at the manor?” Tom asked to which I readily agreed. Nagini would surely be happy to see me.

  


Over dinner Tom informed me that seventeen ova is a very high number as the average number varied between three and ten, which explained Healer Scribner’s compliment. He also said not to worry about my sperm not being fertile yet. It would get there soon enough on its own. We also discussed if I should braid my hair in keepingwith the usual tradition as a sign of fertility.

  


“I know that Zabini braided his. Mocked me about being fertile long before me,” I told Tom.

  


“I do not care either way,” Tom replied. “Do whatever you like best,” he said. “But if you decide to braid your hair, your welcome to use this.” And with that he gave me a silver-green hair-band.

  


“I’ll think about it,” I answered. I had allowed my hair to grow out during the last three years so it was long enough that a braid would not look ridiculous.

  


When it was time for me to Floo back to the castle, we went to Tom’s study. He asked me to wait a moment as he laid my results into the respective folder. As I waited next to his desk, I saw how he left the folder open long enough for me to read Zabini’s test results. If Zabini tried to tease me about my slightly later fertility I could now always tease him back about his low ova count.

  


_**~FERTILITY-TEST-RESULTS** _

_**Patient: Blaise Zabini** _

_**Date of Birth: 12.10.1979** _

_**Test date: 08.07.1993** _

_**Semen:** _

_**Sperm-percentage: 97 %** _

_**Sperm-mobility: Exceeds Expectations** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_**Ova:** _

_**Ova-count: 5** _

_**fertile ova: 1** _

_**Overall: FERTILE** _

_**Done by: Marc Scribner~** _

  


The next morning I was still undecided on braiding my hair yet, as it would let everyone know that I was fertile. I did however use the hair-band Tom gave me to tie a simple ponytail. It was a week later when Severus had returned from his Potions conference that I decided to braid my hair. As a gift for my fertility he’d sent me the wooden hair combs with the sunflower carved into the handles that he’d originally given my mother. Ronald Weasley teased me about looking girly and both he and Zabini were saying that my results must have been dreadful when they did not see any expensive jewellery adorning me. Content with the knowledge that Zabini’s results were a lot worse than mine, I just shrugged my shoulder and continued eating my breakfast.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


“You have the best godfather ever,” Fred and George Weasley greeted me on the morning of April, second.

  


Not knowing what they were talking about or even which of my two godfathers they were referring to, I just blinked owlishly at them.

  


“It may be a day too late,” Fred said.

  


“But who cares if you get a Firebolt?” George finished.

  


“Two,” Fred corrected.

  


“You got a firebolt each from my godfather?” I asked them slowly, hoping that I got it right.

  


“Yes. Professor Black really loved our Aprils fool pranks yesterday,” Fred said,

  


“And the ones before yesterday,” George butted in.

  


“That he gifted us both with a Firebolt. But you know what is even better? He’s one of the Marauders, can you imagine it?” he asked.

  


“I know,I’ve heard enough stories about their mischiefs for a lifetime. Though I will have to have a serious word with him. What is he thinking, giving his favourites godson’s rival team new brooms?” I asked. We laughed together.

  


“I’m sure Mr Malfoy won’t mind buying new brooms for the Slytherin team,” Fred said. “We’ll even take care of the _totally outdated_ Nimbus 2001s for you,” he added with a wink. And with this, the two were off to the Quidditch field, eager to test their new toys.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


I do not know if Healer Scribner had leaked my Foreas test results to Dumbledore or if the headmaster had gotten his hands on them another way, but regardless of the hows, the consequences remained the same. Tom’s fight against the old laws and our early engagement had already piqued his interest and my test results seemed to only have cemented his plans to further test me. But this time he would need to find a way to make sure that no one would be able to interfere. The failed attempt to test my abilities with a mountain troll had taught him that much. _Maybe it was time to reinsta_ _te_ _the Tri-wizard tournament?_ Dumbledore thought and with it, his new trials for me began.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** I hope you liked this chapter. About 3-4 more to go. I hope you like the inclusion of the Tri-wizard tournament, after all 2.5 years ago 15 out of 25 people voted for its inclusion in Verbuar.


	27. Intermission

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”,_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** paedophile tendencies

**AN:** Not a real chapter, thus the title intermission, but it gives some insights to Dumbledore’s thoughts.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~-** **I** **ntermission** **-~-~-**

  


“Are the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are they telling us to fight against that other 'undesirable' side, the bad and the black. That is a big question. If there is wisdom in the sacred teachings, there should not be any war. As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.”

(Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism)

  


Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore liked to proclaim himself as a light wizard. A beacon of light that had defeated the Dark Lord Grindelwald. What only a few people knew was that once, in their youth Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald had been very good friends, sharing the same dream of finding the Deathly Hollows and exploring all kinds of magic, light and dark, together. Even fewer people, maybe only Dumbledore and Grindelwald themselves knew that Albus loved his Gellert deeply. So why did he send the love of his life to Nurmengard? Simple, Gellert had not returned his feelings.

  


It was years later when a young Tom Riddle, second in line to the Slytherin Lordship, entered Hogwarts. He was only the Transfiguration teacher then, but Tom’s magic, aura, and cold and calculating eyes reminded him so much of his once beloved Gellert, that he could not help himself but to be fascinated by the young boy, even if he was a half-blood. He keenly followed the young boy, quietly observing him. When Tom was about to finish his last year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore made his decision. Once Riddle was not a student any more, Dumbledore would be free to ensnare the very attractive young man. So, to get back at Gellert and at the same time impress young Tom, Dumbledore set out to defeat the Dark Lord Grindelwald.

  


He was successful. At least in part. While he was forced to attend the celebrations in honour of his defeat against his first love, his new love interest finished his NEWTs and then vanished to travel the world. If Dippet had not told him that Tom had applied for the DADA position, he would have resigned and tracked him down. But he knew Tom would be back soon to ask again for the position, so he stayed. As a colleague, he would be in the perfect position to woo the young man, who surely would only become more attractive in the coming two to three years as he delved deeper into the Dark Arts.

  


A year passed, the current Lord Slytherin, Marvolo Gaunt died and his son became the new Lord. With twinkling eyes Dumbledore basked in Tom’s presence at the funeral. As he thought, exploring the world suited Tom. The young man soaked up everything the places he visited offered, regardless of it being light, black or grey magic, new or ancient theories, Muggle or Wizarding knowledge. And it all radiated back through him and in Dumbledore’s eyes turning Tom’s magic an even deeper and dominating black. Another three years passed before Dippet retired, making Dumbledore the new Headmaster, but not before telling him that Tom Riddle had again applied for the DADA position and had already been accepted. Dumbledore was ecstatic about the news. The role of headmaster would position him perfectly to demand one-on-one meetings with the new member of the staff. What better place to discuss Tom’s teaching than over a nice, quiet dinner with candle light on a Saturday evening?

  


But then Morfin Gaunt had to die and with it all of Dumbledore’s great plans for the new school year. Tom withdrew his application. Come September he would be the new Lord Slytherin which would leave him no time for Hogwarts. Luckily as the defeater of Grindelwald, Dumbledore had received very a powerful position in the Ministry, allowing him to approach Tom through politics. He’d tried his best, but after three years, it became clear to him that his feelings had once again been rejected. Tom never even suspected that Dumbledore’s attempts at seduction were just this; he simply assumed that Dumbledore’s attempts to worm his way into his good graces were purely politically motivated.

  


Lord Slytherin would learn to not cross him. If the public had not loved Tom so much, Dumbledore would have tried to label him a Dark Lord and sent him off to join Gellert in Nurmengard. But Dumbledore was a patient man. Revenge could wait.

  


In the meantime, he would take up the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts. Tom had given him hope that there were more people like Gellert out there. And the next time he would not wait until they became of age before he would bury his claws into the boy’s heart.

  


As much as Severus hated the looks his despicable Muggle father gave him, it was the unpleasant looking nose, greasy hair, and too white skin that turned Dumbledore off. Bellatrix also was lucky that she’d been born female, otherwise she too would have been in danger of attracting Dumbledore’s undesirable love. And there was me.

  


As I grew older, I physically became very desirable in Dumbledore’s eyes. My colouring reminded him of a young Tom. The fact that I was Lord Slytherin’s fiancé was not a hindrance. On the contrary, it made me even more desirable. What better revenge was there than to steal away the love interest of the one who’d rejected him? Fortunately, there was something that turned him off: my magic and aura. While Gellert’s, Tom’s, Severus’, and Bella’s magic and aura was dark, mine was a light grey colour. And as much as my eye colour resembled the killing curse, they shone with love and warmth and not the cold, calculating glance of death.

  


Dumbledore was further put off by the fact that I was a half-blood and because he suspected that I was already too close to Tom for him to be able to secretly woo me away from him, at least with minimal risks to his reputation and social standing. But when he heard how high my ova count was, his interest was ignited again. My ova count indicated that I was or would become a very powerful wizard. Did he dare to risk me growing into such a powerful and close ally to Tom? It would make taking revenge even harder.

  


_Harry was the reason why Tom fought against the Old Laws,_ Dumbledore thought. Now that I was physically appealing to him, he hated it even more that Tom had overthrown the laws, preventing him from ‘validating’ the wedding night and monitoring the following pregnancy and birth. _They have to pay,_ he decided. With being a Hogwarts student, I was the one he could most easily lay a hand on. He just needed to find a way to use his position as the Headmaster to get me into a situation that would work in his favour. Something that would allow him to test my magical abilities and if I showed too much potential, would allow him to get rid of me without anyone being able to blame him. _Oh, and dear Tom should watch it too. Unable to interfere. Oh what sweet payback this will be._ _Nothing better than to see a love_ _d_ _one die right in front of your eyes, feeling useless in their own inability to save the love of their life_ _,_ he thought.

  


It took him four months to find the ideal solution. _Maybe it was time to reinsta_ _te_ _the Tri-wizard tournament?_ Dumbledore thought gleefully. He would need to tread carefully though. He was sure if Tom heard about his plans, he would try to stop it or interfere to ensure that Harry could not participate. Luckily, there were some old enemies of Tom’s and some mindless light followers that would eagerly help him with his new pet project.

  


He would need to talk to the Headmistress of Beauxbatons and the Headmaster of Durmstrang. Madame Maxime was the first one he approached. She was not enthusiastic about his idea. After the second failed meeting with her, he grudgingly approached Karkaroff. His hesitancy to contact Karkaroff was based on the rumour that Karkaroff was an admirer of Tom, so the greatest caution was required to stop the news from getting back to Lord Slytherin. To Dumbledore’s great surprise, Headmaster Karkaroff was nearly as eager to reinstate the Tri-wizard tournament as he. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Dumbledore this time together with Karkaroff approached Madame Maxime. Not wanting her school to seem weak, she finally relented. A couple of Unbreakable Vows ensured that the people in the Ministry that had to be included in the planning, like Minister Fudge, would not accidentally spread the word.

  


And so, as I spent the summer between my third and fourth year getting Tom to properly kiss me, my attempt to make him play a game of truth or dare, a complete failure, Dumbledore was busy modelling the tasks to serve his own needs.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**AN:** I already have an idea for the first task, but I’m open for suggestions for the other two.


	28. Chapter 21- Part I

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** Enjoy part I of chapter 21. I do not know when I'll have the time to write part II.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **21 –** **Part I** **-~-~-**

 

“Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow.”

 

(J.M. Barrie, British author)

 

With puberty came first crushes. The first person I developed romantic feelings for was predictably Tom. I would not go so far as to say that my love was unrequited, as it was clear that Tom dearly loved me. The problem lay in the little detail that while he returned the platonic, family love that existed between us for over a decade, my romantic love remained unreturned for the moment. I hated it.

 

It didn’t stop me from trying to seduce him though. I hate to admit that those attempts during the summer holidays were complete failures. Once I was declared a participant of the life-endangering Tri-wizard tournament, Tom became much more inclined to give in to my attempts, but with my life on the line, I could not enjoy this new development as much as I would have otherwise.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**Early July 1994**

 

Wanting to make up for all the birthdays he’d missed while he was in the coma, Sirius told Remus that he would buy me at least three presents for each missed birthday. Remus was relieved to hear that Sirius, having been teaching at Hogwarts had not yet had the chance to buy me anything.

 

“I know that you mean well,” he patiently explained to his lover. “But thirty-six presents-”

 

“Thirty-nine,” Sirius corrected, already adding three presents for this year.

 

“-will not make Harry happy,” he finished, not giving any heed to the interruption. “Besides, he’s already received a present form you every year. They were form _both of us_ ,” he stressed.

 

“But I did not pick them out!” Sirius complained.

 

“I’m sure you would have gotten Harry at least half of them too,” Remus countered.

 

“Would not,” he sulked.

 

“Yeah?” Remus challenged. “I seem to remember that you had Play-Doh on your gift list. Something which Harry received from _us_ for his third birthday.”

 

“He’ll love Play-Doh!” Sirius said enthusiastically.

 

“He loved it when he was three and four, not now when he is turning fourteen!” Remus explained. Not wanting this conversation to go on for hours, he accommodated Sirius by suggesting the following, “How about giving Harry something that’s not a _thing_?”

 

“Not a thing?” Sirius questioned.

 

“Yes, how about you organize him a surprise birthday party?” he prompted. “You know who he is close to, don’t you?”

 

Sirius was silent for a moment, thinking about it as Remus hoped that he’d agree. “Okay, let’s do this,” the animagus finally decided.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**24th July to 7th August 1994**

 

When Remus suggested the surprise birthday party, he’d thought about something like a trip to an amusement park or water park. But Sirius would not hear of it. “How can it be a surprise birthday party when it takes place on his birthday? He’ll expect it then,” he argued. And thus, Sirius had invited my family and friends to join him at the Black family vacation home in the south of France, private beach included. Luckily the full moon had been on the twenty-second, so Remus was safe to join us.

 

I only expected Remus, Sirius, Severus, and Tom to be there. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised when Hermione, the Weasley twins, Draco, and his parents joint us an hour later. With their family’s financial situation, the trip was like an early Christmas present for the twins, which made me even happier as their good mood was infectious.

 

“See,” Remus told Sirius smugly, “I told you that he would like something immaterial better.”

 

My friends joining us had one disadvantage though: Tom as Lord Slytherin did not think that it would be proper for him to be seen in just swimming trunks by my friends, especially the prank-loving twins. _And here I hoped that I could get a good look at his body,_ I thought dejectedly. I don’t know when exactly it started, but if asked when I realised that I had a crush on Tom I would say it was the morning I woke up with sticky pyjama bottoms, able to remember last night’s dream.

 

The dream started innocently enough. I first talked with Tom in front of the fireplace in my room, informing each other about our week, but then my focus was drawn to his lips. Soon, I did not hear a word he said, only seeing his lips before I stood up from my seat and sat down on the armrest of his armchair. Hesitantly, I stretched out my hand towards his cheek. When Tom did not shove me away, I turned my head and leaned in to kiss him, burying my other hand in his hair. Soon, I was sitting in Tom's lap, rubbing myself against him, only to realise that I was humping the mattress when I woke up.

 

I was not the only one who had developed a first crush. Hermione developed a fancy for Severus. And opposed to me, she was far more successful at getting her crush’s attention. In her bikini, she at least was able to make Severus look below her face when he commented that it was only strings and no cloth. And she could, hidden behind a book, stare at his naked chest.

 

I, on the other hand, completely failed to make Tom look anywhere but my face. As for the eye candy, Tom never even bothered to change into swimming trunks. Instead he was sunbathing with Nagini and Nagijan on the beach, wearing a shirt and Bermuda short that reached below his knees like he was a snake himself. But I was not giving up yet. On the second of August, my friends would return home, giving me six more vacation days during which I could try to talk Tom into changing into his swimming attire. 

 

For tonight, I settled on asking Tom to play truth or dare with my friends, trusting them to dare either me or Tom to kiss the other. “Play with us?” I asked him using the best puppy dog eyes I could muster.

 

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy the game more with just your friends without an old man,” Tom answered to my regret, already turning around to walk away.

 

“But what if I’m dared to kiss someone?” I challenged, making him hesitate before he turned back towards me.

 

“ _Don’t allow anyone to kiss Harry. Or Harry to kiss someone,”_ Tom ordered Nagijan, who was coiled around me. “Problem solved,” he told me with a smirk as he ruffled my hair before he left the living room. I pouted.

 

Once Tom was out the door, my friends started laughing. “You should see your face,” Draco said.

 

“Couldn’t you have helped me?” I asked.

 

“We would, Harry,” Fred began. “But we were too distracted by the Parseltongue.”

 

“It sounds really sexy, you know,” George added with a lecherous look.

 

“In the dangerous, hair-raising kind of way,” Fred clarified. “To bad we didn't understand a word he said.”

 

I quickly thought about telling them what Tom had said to Nagijan, but then I decided against it. I had promised Tom that I would keep my Parseltongue ability a secret, so I stayed silent. At least the game turned out to be fun, Draco being dared to turn his hair pink.

 

That night I was very tempted to ‘accidentally’ Apparate into Tom’s bathtub like I did all those years ago in Canada when I was four. _Or maybe_ _into_ _the shower?_ _Now, that is a tempting idea._ But as much as I liked the thought, I was not at an age where one performed accidental magic anymore and I’d rather not risk getting splinched.

 

The next day, I was cheered up by Hermione’s failed attempt to ask Severus to rub sun cream on her back. The twins came to her rescue and tried to make Severus jealous by whispering into her ear. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you make him jealous.” They would never dare to offer the same thing to me, respecting and fearing Tom too much. _Sometimes it_ _i_ _s a disadvantage to be engaged to Lord Slytherin,_ I thought as the twins put the sun cream on Hermione's back.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

“Finally,” I said when my friends left. I very much enjoyed the time I spent with them, the barbecue and bonfire at the beach the perfect setting for my birthday party and the fireworks that the twins had especially created for this occasion. But with them here I had even less of a chance of successfully seducing Tom.

 

“Getting tired of your friends already?” Severus asked.

 

“No,” I said. “Just happy to have some family time.”

 

Severus raised an eyebrow. “Don't think I didn't notice your or Hermione's gazes.”

 

“I was not gazing at you.” I answered out of reflex.

 

“No, you were pining for Tom.”

 

“Don't crush young love,” Sirius butted in, having overheard Severus' last sentence on his way to the kitchen. He laid a supportive arm around my shoulder and then told me in a loud whisper, “I'm happy that you're in love with your fiancé. You don't want to know what a shock it was to wake up and hear that my baby godson was already engaged. To Lord Slytherin no less!”

 

“Thank you,” I replied, not knowing what else I should say in answer to his statement.

 

“If you need some tips, come to me. I'm the expert in all matters of the heart. Even got Remus to fall for me,” Sirius stated proudly.

 

“And that's why you're not married yet,” Severus said sarcastically just to rile Sirius up.

 

I allowed their childish quarrel to continue, using the opportunity to make my escape. _Why does everyone_ but _Tom_ _notice my attempts at seduction?_ I complained and walked right into Tom.

 

“Careful,” he said as he steadied me.

 

I didn't say anything, just smiling stupidly as my cheeks turned red in embarrassment when I saw what Tom was wearing, or not wearing. _Luck is on my side today,_ I thought as I took in Tom in his swimming trunks, a towel on his arm. I'd already seen him in such a state of undress, but that was before my hormones went crazy and I developed not so platonic feelings for him.

 

“Care to join me for a swim?” he asked, making me smile even more.

 

“I'll be right back,” I said as I hastened to my room to change. _Did Severus g_ _i_ _ve me some Felix Felicis without my notice?_ _Or Sirius?_ I wondered.

 

As I quickly changed into my swimming trunks, I briefly humoured myself with the thought of swimming naked. If Tom and I were alone on a private island in the middle of nowhere, I would have seriously considered the option, if I found the courage. But here my godfathers and Remus could join us at the beach at any moment. Still, a boy could dream and it was a nice dream inspiring thought to fall asleep to tonight.

 

Tom didn't say anything when I rejoined him, towel hastily thrown over my shoulder. He made a simple hand movement that said 'shall we go?' before we left the house.

 

Once we were at the beach, I did not know what to do. Should I simply lie on my towel and watch Tom or should I invite him to swim with me? In the end, I followed Tom's lead, placing my towel next to his on the still cool sand and walking after him into the water, my eyes shamelessly focused on his ass.

 

“Ahh,” Tom groaned in satisfaction when he fully immersed into the water, making me glad that the coolness of the water prevented my body from showing an immediate reaction to the noise he'd made.

 

“You could always have joined us for a swim,” I said teasingly.

 

“And have a picture of it on the cover of _Witch Weekly_?” Tom asked.

 

“And how do you think they would get their hands on such a photo?” I asked. “Only my family and friends were here with us.”

 

“I wouldn't rule out the twins taking a photo. Be it for one of their pranks or for simple blackmail,” Tom replied and then swiftly ducked my head under the water.

 

“Hey,” I complained when I was allowed to resurface.

 

Tom laughed as he swam away from me, deeper into the water. I quickly followed him and was easily able to catch up to him once he stopped. It took me some moments to notice that opposed to me Tom did not need to kick his legs underwater to keep afloat. I stretched my legs out, but was unable to touch the ground. Tom chuckled when my nose reached the water line. It was not my fault that he is taller than me.

 

I used Tom's distracted state to quickly move forwards and wrap my legs around his hips. “Better,” I said, only for Tom to kneel down, making me think that he wanted to pull me underwater again, but he stopped when the water reached my chin and stood up again.

 

“You're mean,” I pouted.

 

“Am I?” Tom said and wrapped his arms around me in support, bringing our bodies in even closer contact, my head now resting on his left shoulder.

 

“Yes,” I said into his ear and finally found the courage to kiss him where his neck met the shoulder.

 

“Harry,” he said sternly, warning me from continuing with my undertaking.

 

“See, you're mean,” I complained.

 

“Yeah?” he asked huskily into my ear. “Mean would be if I started something that I do not intend to finish.”

 

“I won't stop you from finishing,” I replied, hoping for my lucky streak to hold.

 

“But my morals do,” he said and then after a short pause added, “And your godfathers by the look of it.”

 

Tom turned a bit so that I could see that indeed both Severus and Sirius were on the beach, watching us with hawk's eye.

 

“But we're engaged,” I argued in typical teenage fashion.

 

“And you're underage,” Tom countered.

 

“You and Severus always say I'm very mature for my age,” I replied.

 

But instead of an answer I was thrown into the water. “Patience, Harry, patience,” he said as he swam back towards the shore.

 

Severus and Sirius seemed to have completed their mission for the morning as they walked back into the house, from the look of it trading the usual insults between them.

 

It was nearly fifteen minutes later when I finally stopped sulking and left the water to sit down next to Tom on my towel. “You should use sun cream, less you get sun burned,” I said, not wanting to give up just yet.

 

Tom sat up and laughed, which made me angry. He must have noticed, because he said in a gentle voice, “Harry, in all the years we have been on holidays together, have you ever seen me using sun cream?” he asked.

 

I thought about it. _Did I ever see him using sun cream?_ “ Not that I can remember,” I finally said dejectedly.

 

“Because I always use the Sunburn Protection Charm,” Tom explained as he stretched out on his towel again, enjoying the sunny morning. I still felt like I was being treated like a child and sat down with crossed legs, looking out at the water. 

 

It was silent for a bit before Tom suddenly began to speak in a soft whisper. “Harry,” he said. “I know that being a teenager can be hard, especially with all the hormones going crazy. And I can also understand that you begin to feel that you should be treated like an equal instead of a child.”

 

“Are you reading my mind?” I accused him, still angry with him.

 

“No,” Tom replied, his voice still as soft as before. “I'm just remembering how I felt at your age,” he explained and sounded like he was already a century old.

 

“I feel so young,” I complained, when I actually thought about Tom being 67 years old instead of the twenty five years he looked.

 

“Because you are young, Harry,” Tom said. “You're not a child anymore, but you're not an adult yet. I can see the young man you'll become in the next few years, but right now, you're still more like a nephew to me.”

 

“Great,” I mumbled, crossing my arms in annoyance.

 

Tom laughed again. “But you know what?” he asked as he sat up and friendly nudged my shoulder with his own. “I'm happy that your first crush is me instead of someone else, like Draco. I really am,” he stressed, as we locked eyes.

 

He let the words sink in for a moment before he continued. “At the moment, I fear that you're not ready to give me all I require from my partner; it would be too overwhelming for you. Also, I would rather you to take some time to find out who _you_ are now that you're becoming an adult, instead of running head over heals trying to define the _us_.”

 

“You think too much,” I mumbled as I let my head rest on Tom's shoulder. I was happy that he explained his reasoning to me. And while I did not like it, I could still somehow understand where he was coming from.

 

“And you're submitting to your hormones instead of thinking,” he replied and kissed the top of my head and laid an arm around my shoulder.

 

We remained like that until Remus called us back into the house for lunch, just listening to the sounds of the waves breaking on the beach and enjoying each other's company.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

That night, I did not lay in bed imagining how it would be if Tom and I were alone on a private island. Instead I thought about Tom's words from the morning, reflecting on our unique situation. Especially his claim that I wasn't ready yet to give him all he required from his lover. That was haunting me. I thought about all the couples at Hogwarts, how they seemed to be ready for a romantic and sexual relationship; a readiness I felt too. But then, they were all in the same boat weren't they? There may be a two-year age gap between some couples, but in the end it was still only their first tentative relationship.

 

But Tom was not like my classmates at Hogwarts. He was a grown man with years of experience. It was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it comforted and calmed me to know that when he and I finally started a romantic relationship, he would know what to do, be able to guide me and show me all there was to know. But on the other hand, and I really hated the thought, it also meant that there were people before me. Jealousy really was an ugly thing.

 

He may not have slept with others while I was living with him, for he respected our engagement too much to betray me even if I was still just a baby. But I was sure that there must have been lovers in his past, probably during the years when he was travelling the world before he was named Lord Slytherin.

 

_ Why  _ _ does _ _ my life  _ _ have  _ _ to be so complicated?  _ I wondered. But then I thought about Hermione and her unrequited crush on Severus and  about Vibius,  the Slytherin fifth year who moan ed about the common room,  annoying his friends all the time,  asking if they thought his love interest returned his affections. While Tom  was not open to a romantic relationship with me yet, he did not reject my feelings.  _ Merlin, I'm already engaged to the one I love. Wh _ _ at  _ _fourteen-year-old_ _ could say that?  _

 

I fell  asleep thinking of the happy times ahead for me and Tom , a future that was at the most three years away, though I was hopeful that I could talk him around during the next year or two.  While h e said to be patien t , to find myself before we would take our current relationship to the next level,  I was of the mind that finding and defining myself also included explor ing my sexual si d e and who better to explore this si d e of me with than Tom. The fact that he admitted that he liked that I wanted him was giving me hope that he could be swayed to see it my way if I could express my wishes in just right.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

**Thursday, 1st September 1994, Hogwarts**

 

“Dear first years, welcome to Hogwarts. To the others, welcome back,” Dumbledore greeted us at the start of term feast. “While every year at Hogwarts is special, this Halloween we are privileged to welcome guests from afar.”

 

The voices around me were growing. “Why would we have guests arriving?” was the general murmur.

 

“If you would calm down, I'm sure I'll answer your questions,” Dumbledore said in a raised voice, effectively calming the students once more. “The occasion for our guests' visit is a joyful one. I am very proud to announce that this year, Hogwarts will be hosting the Tri-wizard tournament. To those of you not familiar with it, it is a competition that is held between three schools. Besides our beloved Hogwarts, the Wizarding schools Beauxbaton and Durmstrang will compete. The other Headmasters together with our Ministry office for sports and international cooperation have all done their best to make it as spectacular as possible. I'll give you more details in due time. Until then, concentrate on your studies, make Hogwarts proud and enjoy the feast.”

 

With these words the plates of food appeared on the table. Draco and I ignored it in favour of listening to Hermione. Once the announcement was over, she'd left the Ravenclaw table to sit down between us. “Spectacular is one way of describing the tournament. Deadly would be more accurate. People have died, you know. Which was actually why they'd stopped it in the first place all those years back.”

 

“I don't have a good feeling about it. Something makes me feel uneasy.” I said.

 

“I agree,” Draco said. “My father has not heard about it. He would have told me. That alone gives me reason to think that something is fishy about it.”

 

“Yeah. Something like this should have come to Tom's attention. But I'll ask him to make sure,” I agreed.

 

“Me too,” Draco said and only then did we start to eat dinner, though none of us had much of an appetite anymore, our stomachs in knots.

 

Once the feast was officially over, I did not walk straight back to my rooms, instead I went towards the DADA classroom, hoping that Sirius had some more information to share with me.

 

“Did you know about it?” I asked as we met on the stairway.

 

“No,” he said. “Which actually makes me feel wary about the whole thing. I can understand that the Headmaster did not announce it to the students earlier, but to us teachers? We'll have to adjust our lesson plans to account for the extra students. And knowing him, he'll probably also ask us to help him with the preparation of the tasks. Though I rather not have a hand in killing an innocent child just for some politician’s entrainment.”

 

When I Floo called Tom ten minutes later, he confirmed my suspicion. He too had not been informed of the event, but promised me that he and Lucius would do some research. The outcome of the research was not very uplifting.

 

It was the next day when I returned from my last class that I found Tom sitting in one of the armchairs in my room, or his room to be precise. “Good or bad?” I asked, as I threw my backpack into a corner. Homework could wait for another day.

 

“Bad, I fear,” Tom replied. “All we were able to get out of the Ministry workers who are involved in it was that Dumbledore was the one who initiated it and that nearly everything related to the event is protected by an Unbreakable Vow. While I can understand their secrecy, I still should be informed of the going-ons, but even when both Lucius and I offered to swear the vow, Dumbledore declined, sprouting some nonsense about both of us being too close to potential champions.”

 

“Suspicious,” I said.

 

“Highly so, considering that he was the most opposed against overthrowing the Old Laws,” Tom said. “And since you are currently a student here, I fear he tries to get back at me through you.”

 

“But with how deadly it is, surely they won't allow a fourteen-year-old to compete?” I asked.

 

“Regrettably, yes,” Tom said. “Before it was banned, everyone who was a student at the time of the tournament was able to compete. Sometimes you could volunteer, at other times you were forced to compete for your school.”

 

“Forced?” I asked.

 

“Yes,” Tom replied, worry shining through. “And we cannot do anything until we know what to expect, if it really should come to the worst.”

 

“Fantastic,” I said sarcastically, Tom nodded in agreement.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

Waiting was horrible, especially when faced with the unknown. The longer I had to wait, the more accounts of previous tournaments I was able to read and the more my stomach clenched. It was only when the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived that Dumbledore finally revealed how the schools' champions would be chosen. Each Headmaster or Headmistress had one scroll on which they could put as many or as few of their students' names as they wished. They would then place the scroll into a goblet, the Goblet of Fire. After two days, the goblet would then spit out the part of the scroll that contained the name of the student it deemed the most suitable to represent their school.

 

Dumbledore claimed that the Goblet of Fire was the most impartial judge one could have. While that may be true, it was not the goblet but the biased author of the list who determined who was a potential competitor. Madame Maxime proudly sho w ed her unrolled list to the student body.  O nly the names of the students who  had  c o me to Hogwarts and there fore had  already  agreed to be a participant in the deadly games were on it, minus  the few who had come in moral support of their friends or siblings.

 

Kakaroff only showed the first name on his scroll: Viktor Krum. Many doubted that the scroll had any other names on it with how proud he was of his famous Quidditch player. And Dumbledore? He said that he wanted every Hogwarts student to have a chance to be the Hogwarts' champion and thus claimed to have written the names of all Hogwarts students on it, starting from first years up to the seventh years. He did not completely unroll his scroll, though. Only revealing the names of the first years before he rolled the scroll up again and put it into the goblet.

 

My family and friends doubted Dumbledore's words. Tom even reviewed mine and Sirius' memory of the scroll in a pensive, but he still came to the conclusion that based on the thickness of the scroll and how much space it had taken to write down the names of the first years, that the scroll was far too short to contain the names of all Hogwarts students. We found it far more likely that he only wrote down the names of the first years for show and then added my name. Between the first years and me, the goblet would have no choice but to spit out my name as the best suited candidate to represent Hogwarts.

 

Two days later our initial suspicion was all but confirmed. Durmstrang's champion was to be Viktor Krum. Fleur Delacour would represent Beauxbaton. And to the shock of nearly every Hogwarts student, it was my name that came out last.

 

“I fucking knew it!” I cursed as I was forced out of my seat and towards the antechamber, Sirius hot on my heals, arguing with Dumbeldore that I, a mere fourth year could never be more worthy than one of the seventh years. Something clearly must have gone wrong. The other champions and their Headmaster and Headmistress agreed with Sirius, but alas Dumbedore reminded them that the Goblet was impartial and also, once the name was ejected, there was a binding magical contract that if broken would lead to my death.

 

Sirius and I both demanded to see that contract, needing it to find any loopholes available to us. Figures that it took Dumbledore a week to find a written copy of the contract, after Sirius had to remind him of it every time we sat down for a meal in the Great Hall.

 

Once we finally had it in our hands, we made several copies so everyone could help us frantically searched for a way out. After two sleepless nights we only found one loophole that would allow me to get out of the competition: Pregnancy.

 

Tom and I considered it. As a Foreas, I was highly fertile so getting pregnant before the official health check would not be a problem, especially since Severus could easily supply us with a strong fertility potion if it became really necessary. But they real question was, did we really want getting me out of the tournament to be the reason to bring a child into the world?

 

“I wouldn't have to participate in the tournament, but, I would become a father while I’m still a child. I have not even finished my OWLs yet, let alone my NEWTs,” I told Tom as the two of us sat together, cuddled on the couch.

 

“There is the option to abort the pregnancy once your replacement lives through the first task,” Tom pointed out. And we both did our best to ignore the unspoken, _'If our suspicion is right, that replacement will be a mere first year.'_

 

“I could never bring myself to kill an innocent baby, even if it is only the size of a sesame seed.,” I said to Tom. “And I’m as ready for a child as I am for the tournament.”

 

“There are other ways to break the condition where you only endanger yourself,” Tom said, thinking in particular about making me his Horcurx, “But I do not want us to go down that road as the chance of success is even lower than coming out of the tournament alive. Pregnancy is really the only safe option we have in that regard.”

 

“And it's not a real option,” I said in resignation as I buried my head in Tom's chest, needing the comfort. “Why again did I not change schools?” I asked. Before I was named as the Hogwarts champion changing schools would have gotten me out of this whole mess.

 

“Because we did not know what the other schools would do and we both dearly love Hogwarts. And we were still hoping that Dumbledore would not turn out to be such a cruel person,” Tom said, regretting that he had not thought of the simplest and safest option when it was still an option.

 

“Being home-schooled?” I asked.

 

“What if's won't help us now,” Tom said.

 

That night was the first time that Tom and I shared a bed since Disneyland. I felt safe and protected in his arms, not even thinking about anything sexual, just needing to feel his warmth and support.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

 

The day of the official health check came. To my relief, Madame Pomfrey was not swayed by Dumbledore's perverted demand that he as a judge should be allowed to be present during the check-up. With a long lecture about a patient's privacy, she sent him straight out of the door of the Hospital Wing. Some questions and three spells later, I was allowed to leave again, proclaimed to be fit and certified not pregnant.

 

“For you,” Tom said that evening as he handed a small chest to me.

 

“Potions?” I asked as I opened the lid.

 

“Contraception Potions to be precise,” he said.

 

I was stunned. I did not know how I should interpret this. It was only three months ago that Tom told me that he would not start anything sexually with me and now he is giving me Contraception Potions? It certainly sent mixed signals.

 

“They take a year or longer to reach a one hundred percent protection rate,” he finally said as a way of explanation.

 

“They're this shitty?” I asked in surprise and wondered why there were not more teenage pregnancies. Surely even girls don't start taking them one year in advance before they want to lose their virginity?

 

“No, Foreas are just very, very fertile,” Tom replied. “And Severus sends his love.”

 

“I doubt it,” I said as I put the chest on the coffee-table. While it was reassuring to know that Severus, the best Potions master on this side of the Channel had brewed the potions, it was very, very embarrassing to know that your father figure was sending you contraceptives. “Did he also give you a letter in which he explains to me about the birds and the bees?” I asked.

 

Tom laughed. “I think he trusts me enough to take care of any gap in knowledge you may have in that field of expertise.”

 

“Want to start filling the gap now?” I asked. “I'm sure it's huge.”

 

“Potions first,” Tom said, amused that I would not let go.

 

Out of spite, I grabbed the first bottle out of the box and swallowed it in one go.

 

“Severus told me that he already improved the taste.”

 

“I do not want to know what it tasted like before he made the changes,” I said. The potion tasted really horrible.

 

“Once a week for a year,” Tom stated, face serious but I could hear that he found enjoyment in my predicament.

 

_Think positive Harry,_ I thought to myself. _By this time next year, he'll have no more excuse_ _s_ _to deny me._

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

**AN:** The next part will be all about the tournament and maybe some fluffy Harry/Tom moments.


	29. Chapter 21-Part II

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”,_ _ **“**_ Erensugtongue **”**

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** paedophile tendencies, life-threatening situations

**AN:** Part of this chapter (Dragon speech  Erensugtongu e ) is easier to  understand if you speak German. For everyone else, an explanation  of the word plays  c an be found at the end of this chapter.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **21 –** **Part II** **-~-~-**

  


**Wednesday, 23rd November 1994, Hogwarts**

  


To say that I was scared would be an understatement. I was scared to death. I literally thought that tomorrow, the day of the first task, would be the day that I died. “Why did we decided against pregnancy?” I asked into the room, as Severus held me in his arms, trying to comfort me to the best of his abilities. I did not care at all how much like a baby I must have looked to an outsider being swallowed by Severus’ dark robes as we sat on the couch.

  


“Because it would not have been the right thing to do,” Tom said, his voice calm and reassuring as he patted my back.

  


I nodded silently. Deep down, I knew that pregnancy would in no way be the perfect solution. But I was scared and thus rethinking my previous decisions, grasping at straws.

  


“You'll get through it,” Hermione said, her voice filled with confidence and optimism. “You know what you'll be facing, an advantage the other champions may not have,” she tried to cheer me up.

  


“It's a dragon,” I said, fear and respect for the stunning creature clear in my voice.

  


“And dragons have their weaknesses,” Sirius stressed. It was only thanks to him that we knew what the first task would entail. By pure luck, he had taken Hagrid up on the offer of a drink out at the Hog's Head. Once Hagrid a few drinks in, he'd spilled how exited he was to see three live dragons.

  


“You can handle this dragon here just fine,” Fred said as he leaned with his elbow on Draco's shoulder.

  


“So you'll have no problems with a grown up version either,” George added, leaning on Draco's other shoulder, making me laugh, just like they planned as Draco complained about already being a grown up.

  


“Nah, we're sure your mother still calls you her little dragon,” the twins said in unison and then quickly hid behind where Tom sat on the sofa, less Draco dared to send a hex their way.

  


I could not wish for a better family or group of friends as they all encouraged me and distracted me from what would come with the morning sun. It was around nine in the evening when they started to leave, knowing that sleep would be hard to come even with the calming draught Severus had left behind.

  


With each person who took their leave, my anxiety increased until Tom was the only one left. “Stay,” I pleaded, not wanting to spend the night alone, fearing that I would not be able to sleep at all without someone next to me. “Please,” I added when he hesitated.

  


Tom finally nodded, making me smile softly at him. “Let’s get ready for bed,” he said soothingly as he gently guided me towards the bedroom.

  


“I'm scared,” I whispered into the darkness as I lay protected in Tom's arms, taking comfort from the warm skin to skin contact our naked chests provided.

  


“You would be a fool to not be scared,” he replied as his right arm tightened around my waist and his left hand ran through my hair as much as my braid allowed. “At least you have the ability to make the dragon see reason before it attacks you,” Tom said.

  


“I’ve never talked to a dragon before,” I said. When Tom heard that I had to face a dragon, he'd told me that Parseltongue and **Erensugtongue*** , the language of dragons, while not identical were still closely related enough that I should be able to communicate.

  


“It's not much different than talking to someone from Scottland. There are some differences, but overall you'll be able to understand each other,” he reassured, thinking about his own experience with talking to a Hebridean Black years ago.

  


“But what if it attacks first?” I asked, still too worried to even think about sleeping. So many things could go wrong tomorrow.

  


“Then you have to trust that the spells Severus and I cast on your new dragon hide clothing will hold. It won't last forever, but by Salazar it will protect you for some time,” he promised as he kissed my forehead.

  


“ _I'll protect you,”_ Nagijan butted in, intentionally or unintentionally breaking the moment between us. I smiled.

  


“ _They'll probably demand that the dragon remains unharmed,_ ” Tom warned Nagijan. _“_ _But I rather have you receive a penalty than to not come out of it alive,”_ Tom said and Nagijan took it as his clue to leave us again in favour of Nagini and the warm fire in the living room.

  


“Or get banned from the next tasks,” I said cheerfully, even though we doubted that Dumbledore would allow my disqualification.

  


“I wish it was this easy,” Tom replied.

  


“Me too,” I said and soon sleep claimed us.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Thursday, 24th Novemver 1994**

  


All too soon the sun rose again. And even though I was scared and nervous as hell, my teenage body still showed a very obvious reaction to Tom's closeness. _At least_ _I’m not_ _facing hi_ _m_ _,_ I thought, only for my next thought to be, _I’ll die a virgin._

  


_Tom could solve this problem. Being about to face a dragon should be enough to guilt-trip him into giving in,_ my darker side whispered oh so temptingly. _No, I do not want my first time to be like this,_ I decided, shaking my head. _I rather die a virgin than to get a pity-fuck. Even if it would be a mind-blowing pity-fuck._

  


“Everything okay?” I heard Tom ask from behind me, his voice still raspy from sleep.

  


“As okay as I can be,” I answered honestly, wanting nothing more than to stay in bed all day with Tom. Damn the forced magical contract that would make my heart stop if I did not show up to the first task.

  


“You’ll be all right,” Tom reassured as he pressed my back against his chest. “We all did our best to prepare for today and I have faith in you.”

  


We stayed like this, secure underneath the warmth of the bed sheets for five more minutes before Tom slowly got out of the bed. When Tom returned from the bathroom to find me still laying in bed, he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss to the lips. “If you’re dressed and ready in ten minutes, I’ll give you a proper good-luck-kiss,” he tempted me.

  


I’m not ashamed to admit that it worked. I jumped out of the bed, took the quickest shower ever and hastily dressed in the dragon hide attire Tom and Severus had enchanted for me with every protection spell they knew. “Done,” I proudly exclaimed seven minutes later when I ran into the living room where Tom was petting our snakes.

  


“How about brushing your hair?” Tom asked.

  


“I have,” I lied. “Messy bed hair is the latest trend to charm dragons. Tested it on Draco just yesterday morning.”

  


Tom laughed before he, to my great joy, walked over towards me. “I believe that I promised you something,” he said, making me stretch my head forward, eagerly anticipating my reward.

  


The kiss was gentle at first, just a soft brush of Tom’s lips against mine. When I hummed in both pleasure and annoyance, liking the kiss but wanting it to deepen too, he finally raised the kiss to the next level as his tongue stroked against my upper lip, demanding entrance which I readily granted. _I could die happily_ _right_ _now,_ I thought when our tongues met. Tom was clearly in charge of the kiss and I readily submitted to his lead. By the time we parted, I was out of breath, whereas Tom seemed to be not affected at all if one overlooked his slightly swollen lips.

  


_Was this difference in our breathing what he meant when he said_ _that I was_ _n_ _'_ _t ready_ _yet_ _to give_ _him_ _all_ _he_ _require_ _d_ _from_ _his_ _lover?_ I wondered.

  


“You think too much,” Tom said, throwing my words from the beach in France back at me. “Just feel,” he added before he leaned forward again and kissed me once more. “Good luck,” he said when our lips parted.

  


“Third time’s a charm,” I said, eager for one more kiss.

  


“That will be the well-done-kiss,” Tom said as he walked towards the Floo. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Try to eat something. I’m sure Draco and Hermione are already waiting for you.”

  


  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Draco and Hermione were not the only ones who were eagerly awaiting me. They were joined by Sirius and the twins as well as the rest of the student body. I hated the latter. When my name was called, everyone was shocked about me, a mere fourth year being named Hogwarts champion. But the next morning, once the shock had settled down, rumours began to fly.

  


The sixth and seventh years were all glaring at me. In their eyes, I stole their chance at eternal glory. Soon they were saying that I asked Lord Slytherin to either manipulate the Goblet of Fire or to blackmail Dumbledore for me to be named the Hogwarts champion. If they used their brains, they would have realised that Tom never even touched the goblet and that there was so much hatred between the two men that one would never allow the other to blackmail him. I told them that I would gladly give them my place as Hogwarts champion if I could without dying.

  


Hermione too tried to make them see reason, going so far as to actually tell them outright that Dumbledore was the one who orchestrated my nomination. It went unheard. The only one who said that she believed Hermione was Luna Lovegood, a third year Ravenclaw who most called Loony. I thought Lovely was a more fitting nickname for her.

  


Then there were the fifth to third years. The majority of them though that it was great that someone younger was named the champion. I believed they were trying to project their own hopes onto me, I was the stand in for them. They argued that as Lord Slytherin’s fiancé I must be extraordinary. Someone as respectable as Lord Slytherin would never settle for an average nobody. Only the very best of the best for their beloved Lord. Rita Skeeter help to further feed their disillusion by writing more than one article about me that emphasized exactly these thoughts, making them feel like they were right in their childish believes.

  


The first and second years were the best. They just sulked about that they were a year or two too young, or otherwise they would have been named the Hogwarts champion.

  


I was just happy that Nagijan was now at a respectable size to keep all of those wrongly jealous people at a distance. I may also have deliberately sent Nagijan to scare a group of fourth year Gryffindors. The twins had overheard their brother and his friends scheming. We thought it wise to remind them how stupid their idea to attack me was before they could even set their idiotic plan into motion. Really the slug spitting curse?

  


But better than my threats was Sirius’ practical demonstration. It took him two weeks with Remus’ and Hagrids’ help, but by then he’d composed a Tri-wizard challenge for each year. It was nothing as deadly as the real life dragon, but it was still scary enough for most of the Hogwarts students to come to their senses. Fighting Grindylows, trying to catch a Nogtail, and facing an Acromantula taught them: ‘Eternal glory,’ but only if one survives three extremely dangerous tasks.

  


But today, roughly ten days after Sirius’ special lesson, the student body reverted back to their previous mentality. The other two schools adoring glances at their champions making them jealous again.

  


Luckily I had friends who distracted me from the unwanted stares of pity and jealousy. “So,” Fred said as he forced me to sit down at the Gryffindor table between him and his twin, “we’ve been taking bets on who will rock the first task. You’re rate is obviously very low, seeing as you’ll outperform everyone.”

  


“Usually we don’t allow people to bet on themselves, but for you, we’ll make an exception. So how much do you want to put on your win?” George asked me.

  


“Your life would be a good wager, Harry,” Luna said in a dreamy voice as she passed us on her way to the Ravenclaw table. I couldn’t deny how right her words felt.

  


“Don’t listen to her,” George said.

  


“She’s right,” Hermione interjected. “You really shouldn’t try to make profit of such a thing,” she chided.

  


“Ah, Hermione. You cannot blame us for expressing our deep and heartfelt worry for Harry in our own unique way?” Fred asked theatrically. My lips twitched. Fred noticed. “See, even Harry agrees.”

  


“He doesn’t,” Draco said. “But he’s still happy for your support.” I nodded my agreement to the statement as my throat suddenly felt clogged up, preventing me from speaking for myself. “Come on,” Draco said as he dragged me up by the arm and moved me towards the Slytherin table. Hermione had a piece of buttered toast and a glass of pumpkin juice waiting for me before I had even sat down.

  


“At least try,” she said, looking at me with worried eyes.

  


I was barely able to swallow half of the pumpkin juice before Dumbledore collected the champions from the Great Hall.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


Loud whispers, joyous cheering, excited cat-calls. The thunderous roars from the stands stole my focus in the champions tent as I waited with the other two champions for what felt like ages already. The noise got louder when Ludo Bagman together with the headmasters entered the tent. I’d hoped to see Tom enter with them, but it seemed like Dumbledore did not want me to have any contact with my family or friends.

  


Bagman shortly explained to us that our task would be to steal an egg from a dragon. Which dragon we would face, as well as the order in which we would perform our task would be decided by drawing lots in form of miniature dragons. By the reaction of the other two champions they already knew about the dragons too. _Great!_ I groaned in annoyance.

  


Fleur Delacour went first and withdrew a miniature Common Welsh Green with a number one around his neck from the bag Bagman had held out to her. Viktor Krum got the Chinese Fireball, making him the second one to face his dragon. And I got the Hungarian Horntail and would be the last to face my challenge. _Wonderful, even more time to get all worked up,_ I thought sarcastically.

  


“Good luck,” I wished Fleur when she left moments later. I considered talking with Krum to pass the time, but the other boy didn’t look like he wanted to talk to me. He just sat on one of the beds and seemed to once more go through his battle plan. Having nothing better to do, I also flopped down on a bed and sat up straight when my hand got warm. The miniature Hungarian Horntail in my hand had decided to breath fire. I glared at it, but it also made me realise two things.

  


Certainly, of no significance right now, but still a big boon: Draco would love this animated, fire breathing dragon. This in turn meant that I already had the perfect Christmas present for my best friend and that a whole month before Christmas. I laughed at the thought out of nerves.

  


The second and clearly more important, maybe even life-saving, realisation was that if this miniature dragon breathed fire like a real one, maybe I could use it as a distraction. I doubted that my Enlargement Charm would turn it into a real life-size dragon, but even if it only got as big as Hagrid was tall, it should be enough to buy me a minute or two. _Maybe we got them just for this purpose,_ I pondered.

  


The only question was if I would be able to somehow make the miniature dragon do as I asked. I was so focused on trying to make the dragon walk in a certain direction without resorting to the Imperious Curse that I did not notice the cheers getting louder outside the tent as Fleur completed the task. I could not even say if Viktor said anything to me when he left to enter the arena. But at least it did distract me from getting all worked up over what was to come.

  


By the time Bagman came to get me, I had finally figured out what I needed to do to make the dragon walk in a certain direction and that casting a mild tickling jinx at his side made it breath fire. “Ready?” Bagman asked.

  


“Would it make a difference?” I asked back, making him shut up.

  


“Just stay alive like the other two,” he finally suggested as if I would not have thought of doing just that myself.

  


When I saw the arena and the surrounding stands full of spectators I once again thought that I would gladly withdraw from the craziness of the tournament if I could. My eyes searched the stands for a friendly face. There were so many people that I quickly gave up. Instead I focused on finding the dragon, which was not a very hard task given the creature’s size. The egg I needed to steal was a bit harder to spot. I finally found it amongst the light beige eggs inside the nest that was partly shielded by the dragon’s body.

  


I whistle blew, signalling the start of my task and with it the dragon seemed to awake from a slumber as it suddenly reared its head up, looking around for any possible danger. It took all of my bravery to cast the Sonorus charm and to then say the first words. Thankfully by now I was able to speak Parseltongue without having to see a snake.

  


“ _Hello,_ ” I began. A simple “Hello” should be a safe start, polite too, I’d reasoned. However what the dragon understood was “Greet God,” or in other words “Die!” I had unknowingly walked straight into the first small but significant difference between Parseltongue and Erensugtongue.

  


So in retrospect it wasn’t surprising that the dragon became angry. At the time though, I understood her reply of **“** Greet god? You’ll greet god! **”** as “ _Hello? You’ll hello!”_ as her being surprised that I could talk to her and that Erensugtongue seemed to follow some other grammar rules. The angry tone I believed to be the normal tone a dragon used. It wasn’t like I had any previous experience to judge by.

  


Thus unaware, I bravely continued trying to talk the dragon into letting me get the golden egg without her trying to roast me. “ _You have a_ _fake_ _egg in your nest._ ” Of course I walked straight into the next language trap.

  


“I have a fake testicle in my lair?” the dragon asked, offended by my words and the fact that while she understood part of what I said, it did not make a lot of sense to her.

  


“ _Yes,_ ” I replied, raising my head to look up at the dragon, thinking that our conversation was going as smoothly as could be expected.

  


“Yes or no?” the dragon asked even more irritated. In dragon language nodding your head in an upwards movement like I did when I looked up at her was the universal sign for ‘No.’

  


“ _Yes,_ ” I repeated. _Maybe this dragon was a bit slow in the head_

  


“I’ll have you know that I’m not male! I don’t have testicles! Especially not in my lair!” the Hungarian Horntail screamed, having reached the limit of her patience. It was only when the dragon spit fire in my direction that I realised that somehow I must have said something wrong. _Surely she must know that she has eggs behind her?_ I wondered as I ducked behind a boulder.

  


One last time, I told myself as I opened my mouth again. “ _I just want to have the shiny thing from over there,_ ” I tried a different wording as I pointed with my arm towards the nest where the golden egg lay.

  


“You certainly can have my spear in your flesh,” the dragon replied, having misunderstood where I pointed.

  


I swallowed. The image of an enormous dragon penis in my body was scary. The fact that dragons did not have a penises as they reproduced like snakes did not cross my mind at that time. But before I could linger more on the image, the Hungarian Horntail’s deadly tail was coming my way. I quickly rolled to the side, finding cover behind the next boulder as the old one was easily broken into little pieces by the strong and sharp tail.

  


_Plan A, a complete failure,_ I decided and was happy that I still had a plan B and also my newly created plan C involving the miniature dragon and my safety nets in form of Nagini and Nagijan. Though I’d rather not also place them in harm’s way. But since only the dragon eggs and not the dragon herself needed to remain unharmed, Nagijan would be free to give the dragon a deadly bite or two as long as the dragon did not collapse on her eggs.

  


For the moment, I decided to go with plan B: Using the same spells that dragon handlers used. At least the ones I could cast. As I would quickly run out of boulders to hid behind, I decided to start with the Blinding Hex. The eyes were the dragons most sensitive spot and if it was blinded for a minute or two, I may have a chance to dash towards the nest to get my hands on the golden egg.

  


What the great minds of Severus. Tom, and Hermione had not taken into consideration when they devised plan B was the fact that using the same spell as the dragon handlers would remind the dragon of how it was captured raising the Horntails anger to new levels as it blindly breather fire in all directions. _At least my cloth_ _e_ _s were_ _enchanted_ _to protect me from the fire,_ I thought as I held my arm over my head to protect my hair from getting singed.

  


_Plan_ _B,_ _a complete failure_ _too_ _,_ I decided, not wanting to add more fuel to the flame by casting yet another dragon handler spell. Which left me with either summoning Nagini and Nagijan into the arena and asking them to bite the dragon or to try plan C. _Plan C first,_ I decided as I enlarged the miniature dragon at the other corner of the stadium. _With the Hungarian Horntail still blinded, hopefully_ _it_ _believe that the miniature is a real dragon and not a fake_ _one_ _._

  


I was surprised how large I was able to make the miniature. _That should provide a_ _decent_ _distraction_ , I prayed. It provided a distraction, all right. The timing was just horribly off. Just as the Horntail regained its sight, the enlarged miniature decided to breath fire directly into her face. While I found the trick to make it breath fire on command by tickling it, I did not have the time to stop the random fire attacks it originally was charmed to eject.

  


Even more enraged the Hungarian Horntail howled at the miniature. “ _Come near my_ _lizards_ _and I’ll kill you!_ ” I was confused by her words, but reasoned that she must have meant the eggs. _Maybe it’s time to go back to plan A?_ I pondered as I carefully moved closer towards the centre of the field where the nest was located. _I’ll have to give away my position though,_ I argued and decided to stay silent and get closer to the nest instead. I could come back to plan A if plan C should fail.

  


_She must believe that the miniature is a young male dragon,_ I mused as I crept as stealthily as I could behind the dragon’s back towards her nest, always looking over my shoulder to see if the miniature was still doing its job. My invisibility cloak would have made the task easier but I did not want to risk it getting burned to ashes.

  


If the people in the stands had not suddenly began to cheer excitedly as I was maybe ten feet away from my goal, I would have been able to get the golden egg without any problems. The growing noise made the dragon suspicious and as she looked around the arena she soon spotted me so dangerously close to her precious eggs.

  


“ _I just want to take away the_ _fake lizard_ _,_ ” I said quickly and it seemed like the Horntail and I were finally on the same page as she digested my words.

  


The dragon looked at the nest, really looked at it, eyes twitching back and forth between the nest, the miniature dragon and me. The miniature dragon luckily behaved itself for the moment too, not heightening the tension any more than it already was.

  


“ _The_ _lizard_ _on the left is the fa_ _k_ _e one. It will make the other_ _ones_ _ill,_ ” I tried to explain. No one said that my explanation had to be truthful or make sense. I noticed with relief how the dragon’s gaze shifted towards the left side of the nest.

  


“It will make the others ill?” the dragon asked as it took a step closer to me. I hoped it was only so that she could better see the eggs instead of wanting to attack me. I waited with bated breath for her next move, but she remained still

  


“ _Yes_ ,” I replied, nodding my head. “ _That’s why I want to take it away. Do you see that it looks different than the others?”_ I asked and watched anxiously how the dragon critically inspected the golden egg and compared it with the others.

  


“It does look smaller,” the Hungarian Horntail admitted.

  


_Are dragons colour blind?_ I wondered. The golden colour clearly distinguished the fake egg from the other light beige ones. Maybe, I thought and said, “ _This illness is shrinking the egg_ _—_ _lizard_ ,” I quickly corrected, “ _until the_ _y’ll_ _die_. _I just want to take the fa_ _k_ _e_ _one_ _away before it can infect the other_ _s_ _.”_

  


I waited. A second passed, then another. The sweat on my forehead was running down my face. I did not dare to move. I looked at the dragon, another three seconds had passed. The enchanted and enlarged miniature dragon stirred. _Please behave for one more minute,_ I prayed. The Horntail took another step towards me and her nest. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. Its tail twitched from right to left, leaving behind a dent in the ground. I gulped.

  


When the dragon finally opened her mouth, I feared that it was to spit fire at me. I protectively held up my hands in front of my face. “ _Will taking away the_ _fake one_ _harden the other_ _s_ _?”_ it asked.

  


_What does “harden” mean now?_ I thought in annoyance. _When Tom suggested to just speak with the dragon it sounded much easier than it turn_ _ed_ _out to be. Does it mean “save”? Or “harm?”_ It was a fifty-fifty chance.

  


“ _It will harden them_ ,” I replied.

  


“Then you may take the fake egg, but only that one!” she warned.

  


I gulped, nodded and then gladly took up on her offer. _Harden must mean save then,_ I mused and slowly walked the last ten feet towards the nest. One step, another step. _Five more and the dragon handlers will take care of the dragon for me._

  


When I finally held the golden egg in my hand, I felt like I had just resurfaced from a wave that had pulled me under. The noise and ruckus coming from the people in the stands was suddenly clear and loud and all around me. I heard only snippets of what they said like an astonished “Parselmouth? He’s a Parselmouth?” or an excited “That was wicked!” but it was enough to overwhelm me at once. I was glad when Tom and Severus used their ability to fly without a broom to float towards me, giving me two strong shoulders to lean on as the adrenalin from the previous twenty minutes left me and pure relief to be still alive and rather unharmed at that; only some small scratched, a lot of dirt and some singed hair. They gently guided me towards the exit of the arena, letting the dragon handlers take care of the Horntail.

  


“ _Lizards_?” Nagijan asked, obviously confused about the term for eggs that dragons used.

  


“ _Seems like it_ ,” I replied and held out a hand to him. Nagijan did not hesitate to quickly move away from Tom to coil himself around me. With his tongue he searched for possible injuries. “ _I’m alright_ ,” I told him.

  


“ _You need a shower. You stink of smoke,_ ” Nagijan said, Tom and I laughed.

  


“Here,” Severus said, placing the miniature Hungarian Horntail into my left hand, having already re-shrunken it for me.

  


“Thank you,” I replied. My eyes then wandered to my right hand, where I was still holding the golden egg. I wanted to throw the stupid egg away, but Severus who must have correctly interpreted my look put a stopping hand on my arm.

  


“You _unfortunately_ still need this,” he said.

  


I was hindered from a reply by Hermione who threw herself around me. We had finally reached the exit.

  


“You’re a Parselmouth? Why didn’t you tell me?” Draco asked accusingly, but his face gave away the relief he felt.

  


“Because it will be tomorrow’s front page news?” I offered. “But seriously, do you really believe that I would have been allowed to be so close to Nagini when I was just two years old if I couldn’t communicate with her?”

  


“Just don’t do it again,” he said. If he meant keeping secrets or getting myself into potentially deadly situations I did not know.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


“Hey, what was my score?” I asked when all of us finally escaped to mine and Tom’s room inside the castle, a house-elf having brought us Butterbeers to celebrate.

  


“Ten points from Bagman and Dumbledore, who praised your diplomatic approach, nine from Maxime, and Kakaroff,” a dramatic pause, “at first only gave you a one, but then,” another pause, “he quickly added a zero when he heard the indignant screams behind him. So you’re in first place with thirty-nine points,” the twins answered. “You really should have bet on yourself.”

  


“I helpfully overheard the last part,” Sirius commented with a wink and was rewarded with his winnings from the bet he placed on me.

  


“So, what is inside the egg,” Hermione asked. “They said that it had a clue for the next task.” Everyone leaned forward as Remus helpfully passed me the egg I’d abandoned in a corner of the room.

  


I did not know what I expected when I opened the egg. The sound of a screeching Banshee? But no, inside the egg were two stones, a ruby and a sapphire, and a piece of parchment. Really unspectacular and anticlimactic.

  


As the gems were handed around the room, the adults casting various detection charms on them, I unfolded the parchment and read the message on it to the room.

  


_**~We are three pairs of two.** _

_**Are we your pair of two?** _

_**Only part of the pair you need?** _

_**Or are we not for you to keep?** _

  


_**Protected by water, trees and air,** _

_**Are the parts of your sought-after pair.** _

_**Where is your pair of two?** _

_**In one place or in two?** _

  


_**To protect us from unwanted hands,** _

_**Use every resource on your hands.** _

_**But, if we are your pair of two,** _

_**Be prepared to run with us too.~** _

  


From the first line of the first verse, I gathered that the other two champions had also received two stones. The remainder of the verse strongly hinted that the second task would be all about getting my hands on two specific stones. Probably one from each of the other two champion. The small ruby and sapphire made him believe that Beauxbatons would need to acquire two sapphires representing their blue school colour, whereas Durmstrang would need to get the rubies that were the same shade as their red cloaks.

  


“Since they’ll hold it at Hogwarts, ‘trees’ could hint at the Forbidden Forest,” Draco said.

  


“And ‘water’ for the Black Lake,” Remus added.

  


“And ‘air’?” Hermione wondered out loud. “The Astronomy tower?”

  


“The Quidditch pitch?” Sirius offered.

  


“The Quidditch pitch is more likely. It’s blocked to the students for the whole year,” Severus seconded to his own great annoyance. He hated to agree on anything with my other godfather.

  


“So like with the dragons we’ll draw lots for a location. Then I’ll hide these two gems to prevent the other champions from taking them, before I’ll hopefully break through their defences mechanisms to get my hands on my own stones?” I summarized.

  


“You’re forgetting the final part,” Tom interjected. “’But, if we are your pair of two, be prepared to run with us too’,” he repeated. “It is also possible that you’ll need to retrieve the gems you hid instead of only stealing the stones from the others. Maybe instead of the location the gems will be assigned by lot?”

  


“Possible,” Fred said. “But either way, we know what you need to study in the next months.”

  


“Warding and Ward-breaking the like,” George summarized.

  


“It says to ‘use every resources on your hands’ and we just happen to have a Curse-breaker in our family,” Fred said as he shared a smile with his twin. Charlie’s suggested spell may not have led to the desired result with the dragon today, but the helpful advise of their brother was still very much appreciated.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**Erensug** **tongue** **:** Erensugemeans “dragon” in Euskera (dialect of the Basque Country), I here use it as the name of the dragon dialect of Parseltongue

  


**Hello/** **g** **reet god:** “Greet god” is the literal translation of how (especially in Bavaria/ Southern Germany) people say “Hello”. Weird, I know.

  


**E** **ggs/testicles:** “Eggs” is the literal translation of the German slang word for “balls” aka testicles.

  


**Nest/lair:** Nest is a synonym for lair and likewise.

  


**Nod:** In Greece nodding upwards means ‘No’, whereas nodding downwards means ‘Yes’.

  


**Penis/spear:** Just making fun of the authors who use ‘spear’ as a synonym for penis, even if it makes sense considering the meaning of ‘vagina’ (scabbard).

  


**Lizard/egg:** In analogy of us calling a foetus a baby while it is still inside the mothers mum and baby dragons looking like lizards. I also had the idea to call it **Bun in the oven** instead, but it would be a bit to confusing.

  


**Cure/harden** : In English “cure” can also mean harden.

  


  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**AN:** Any ideas/thoughts on the second tasks?  What will Harry’s gems be? The cliché emeralds?

  


**Next:** The Yule ball and task 2, maybe even task 3.


	30. Chapter 21-Part III

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**Warnings for this chapter:** paedophile tendencies, life-threatening situations,  attempted rape

**AN:** T he  next part of chapter 21.  The Tri-wizard tournament is getting much, much longer than I expected.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **21 –** **Part II** **I** **-~-~-**

  


**Saturday, 24th December 1994**

  


_Why me?_ I pitied myself when I woke up on the twenty-fourth of December. Any other year, I would be going down to the Great Hall for breakfast before boarding the Hogwarts Express with my friends to go home for the Christmas holidays. But no, this year the Tri-wizard Tournament was being held at Hogwarts, which also brought the Yule Ball to the castle. Dumbledore being Dumbledore demanded that every student attend the Yule Ball, going so far as to cancel the Hogwarts Express, thus forcing all of us to stay at Hogwarts during the whole festival season.

  


Luckily, Tom as a founder’s heir and Lucius as a school governor had enough power to arrange a compromise. The students would all attend the Yule ball and the Hogwarts Express would leave the day after. It was not the best option, as we all would miss Christmas morning with our families. But what I’d heard from my classmates, most of their families decided to just postpone all celebrations by one day.

  


While annoying—no one liked the idea of spending Christmas on a train—this was not the reason for my current bad mood. Unlike Draco, I could happily wait another day to be surrounded by family and gifts and cup of hot chocolate. No, my problem was that as one of the three champions, I was forced to dance the opening dance. This was not the first time I’d had to dance in front of a room of people, of course. This time though, thanks to the headmasters push of inter-cultural interaction and unity, we as the champions had been mandated to dance with someone from a different school which destroyed my plans to just ask Draco.

  


Luna suggested that I should ask one of the other champions. _Would that be the best message I could send? Showing a united front with my competitors?_ I certainly liked her idea and was starting to consider her as one of my friends, asking her to join us in the library. I couldn’t ask Fleur as with her I would be expected to lead the dance, so Viktor would be my only option. Draco advised me against the idea. Based on how Krum walked, Draco was sure that he would be a horrible dancer.

  


“One of us could use Polyjuice Potion to take the place of a Durmstrang student,” Hermione suggested instead. “I brewed a strong sleeping draught last week. It would take the student out for an hour or two, which should be enough time to finish the dance.”

  


“Why were you brewing a sleeping draught?” I asked.

  


“It’s six-year material,” Fred informed us.

  


“I may have asked Severus for some advanced Potions lesson,” Hermione admitted, her cheeks turning pink.

  


I smiled. It was nice to know that both Hermione and I were making progress seducing our crushes.

  


“I like your idea. But as far as I know, not even Severus has Polyjuice Potion as a part of his regular stock,” I said. “I could ask though.

  


“If he doesn’t, it’s too late to brew a new batch. We only have two weeks left,” Hermione said.

  


“So what’s plan B?” George asked. “Making up an illness? We have some experimental Puking Pastilles you could use,” he offered.

  


“We’ll even provide you with the antidote,” Fred added.

  


“We could try it,” I said.

  


“It’s a bit risky,” Draco interjected. “What if the Headmaster says that if you were too ill to attend the Yule ball, you’re too ill to go home the next day? You would be stuck here the whole time.”

  


“We could try to investigate the other students,” Hermione suggested. “Find out if one of them is a good dancer.”

  


Which brings me back to my current situation. Hermione had somehow been able to get the attention of Viktor Krum, became his date for the Yule ball actually, and found out that Einars Emsis was Durmstrang’s best dancer. I did not have any proof of this claim and I feared that with his height alone, I would look like a small child. But to my regret, all the comparatively small boys from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were horrible dancers according to Krum and Luna, who got her information from Gabrielle Delacour.

  


_It can’t be helped. The sooner I get today over with, the sooner I’ll be able to return home to Tom,_ I thought as I finally dragged myself out of the bed.

  


I should have stayed there.

  


“The press will be here tonight and you do not want out Lord to lose face because his fiancé looks like a slop, do you?” Draco asked as he braided my hair. He’d been ‘pettying’ me up for over half an hour at that point and I was growing impatient.

  


“I really should have gotten you a dress-up doll face for Christmas. You know the ones six-year-old _girls_ love,” I said to tease him.

  


“Shut up and hold this for a moment,” he said as he handed me the braid he had just finished and started on a similar one on the other side of my head.

  


“Tom will also lose face if I look like a girl,” I told him, hoping to finally be freed from his hair-styling marathon.

  


“You won’t look like a girl. You’ll look like a handsome Foreas,” Draco replied and took the braid from me as he bound it together with the new one.

  


“Don’t you need to get ready yourself?” I asked, trying another approach.

  


“Don’t worry, I can get ready in fifteen minutes,” he replied.

  


I gave up and submitted to his torture.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


_You’ll see Tom again tomorrow,_ I told myself, trying to cheer myself up as I slowly walked down towards the Entrance Hall. While I had to give Draco credit for his styling skills, I hated that the reason why I was all dressed-up was connected to the blasted Tri-wizard Tournament. I did not want to dance the opening dance of the Yule ball and even less did I want to participate in the next task. But I cannot blame Emsis for that, I chided myself when I saw him waiting with Krum and Hermione.

 

“Good evening Harry, may I call you Harry?” the seventeen year old boy asked in greeting as he took my hand, and instead of shaking it as I expected, brought it to his lips to place a soft kiss against it. “You look beautiful,” he praised.

 

_I am not a girl!_ I wanted to scream at him, but a voiced that sounded suspiciously like Draco’s said to me, _Think about our Lord’s reputation._ So I instead opted for, “By far not as beautiful as Hermione.” And turned my attention to my friend. After all the time I did not understand why some people thought that a Foreas wanted be treated like a girl.

 

“Your beauties cannot be compared,” Emsis said.

 

I gave Hermione an accusing look that said: “Why didn’t you tell me that he was a flirt?!”

 

“Thank you,” Hermione replied. “It is a shame that your _fiancé_ couldn’t come, I truly would have enjoyed a dance with him.”

 

“One would think that they would allow at least the fiancé of a champion to attend the ball, especially considering that he is a founder’s heir,” I added, hoping that mentioning Tom would stop Emsis’ attempts at flirting.

 

It didn’t work, for he said, “His misfortune, my luck.”

 

_It is only one dance and then you can ditch him for Luna and Sirius,_ I thought, fearing that it would be a long, long night.

 

“Ah, you’re all here,” Professor McGonagall greeted us. She was followed by Fleur Delacour and her date Roger Davis.

 

I wondered why Dumbledore had not come himself. It sounded like something he would have loved to do. Rub in that I was forced to attend the Yule ball with someone else but my beloved Tom.

 

But I was distracted as the grand doors to the Great Hall opened, music started to play, and Emsis took my hand to lead me inside. Soon, all three champion couples were dancing on the floor, and even with the annoying flirting, I at least had to admit that Emsis was an excellent dancer.

 

Once the first dance ended, more couples joined us on the dance floor and Emsis talked me into a second dance, saying that it would look bad if we left the dance floor right after the first dance. Seeing no way out of the swarm that surrounded us, I agreed.

 

Emsis decided that now, that the focus had shifted away from us  it  was a good opportunity to flirt again. “ You really are a remarkable dancer, Harry,” he said to me, leaning close to whisper into my ear.

 

Since I totally disagreed with his statement, I was more offended than charmed by his comment, but I behaved myself and politely replied,  not bothering to whisper into his ear . “You’re a good lead.” He actually was an excellent lead and yet I still prayed for the song to end.

 

“I like your robes, they complement the green colour of your eyes,” he continued as he spun me around.

 

“Thank you. Lord Slytherin chose them for me,” I answered. “I _love_ his taste.” I stressed, hoping to make it clear to him that I was only interested in Tom.

 

“That he has,” Emsis agreed. “A bit light though,” he conceded.

 

I  did not see his point. In my opinion the medium grey robes could not be called light.  But who was I to know if in his culture everything that wasn’t pure black was considered light.

 

“How did you catch his attention?” Emsis asked. “As far as I’ve heard, many have tried but failed.”

 

I  thought  about  how I should answer th e question. I could make a joke of myself and say “ He fell in love when he burped me as a baby and I threw up all over his shoulder.  On his favourite robes no less. ”  I could also say that it was because I was a Parselmouth too,  but Skeeter’s article after the first task was so full of ridiculous speculations of when and how I became a Parselmouth, that I did not want to confirm anything to anyone.  In the end, I decided to take a page out of Tom’s  political  book:  Answer without saying anything  by throwing a question back. And thus I sa id , “Maybe the same thing that caught yours?”

 

I  smiled when I did not get an immediate answer.  Emsis caught himself though. To my great dislike, he spun me around so that I landed in his arm and then breathed in a mysterious voice directly into my ear “What do you think caught m y  attention?”

 

I moved away from him but he had my hand in a firm grip. Deciding that offence would probably be the best defence right now I replied, “ _ Maybe the Parseltongue? _ ”  With delight, I saw him shudder.

 

The song finally ended. “I need a drink,” I informed him, making my way towards the punch table. Emsis followed after me. To my relief, Hermione and Krum had also taken a break.

 

“No one stumbled,” Hermione said as she offered me the glass Krum just gave her. 

 

“Thank you,” I said as I accepted, less Emsis tried to give me one that may or may not be spiked with a potion.

 

The four of us walked to a free table and sat down for a chat. It was only after listening to both Krum and Emsis talking that I noticed something. Emsis’ English was much better than Krum’s. If I didn’t know that he attended Durmstrang, I would have assumed he was British.

 

When Emsis and Krum excused themselves to take a short trip to the bathroom, I shared my thoughts with Hermione.

 

“Yeah, his English is way better than Viktor’s” Hermione agreed. “If I had to bet, I would actually say that he has a Southern or Central English accent.”

 

It should have made me suspicious. But instead I guessed, “Maybe he has some English relatives?”

 

“Who has English relatives?” Draco asked as he joined us.

 

“Einars Emsis,” Hermione replied.

 

“If he has, I don’t know them,” Draco said. It should have made me even more suspicious as Draco could recite every pureblood family tree inside Britain in his sleep; the disadvantage of being a Malfoy heir.

 

All to soon Emsis returned. “Shall we dance again?” he asked, holding out his hand to me.

 

“I’m sorry, Emsis, but Draco already asked me for the next dance,” I lied quickly and luckily Draco played along and led me to the dance floor.

 

“Is he so horrible?” Draco asked. “As far as I could see he is a good dancer.”

 

“And a great flirt,” I told him with a sigh.

 

“You could always get Nagijan,” Draco suggested.

 

“I’ll try avoiding him for now,” I said and enjoyed the rest of the dance with my best friend.

 

The good friend that Draco was, he waited until Emsis and Hermione left the dance floor before he accompanied me to the other side of the room. “I believe Pansy is looking for you,” I told him.

 

“Will you be okay?” Draco asked.

 

“Don’t worry,” I told him, nudging him in the side. “I’m not a helpless child. I’m Hogwarts’ Tri-wizard champion,” I joked.

 

Once Draco was out of my sight, I looked around for a friendly face. But I seemed to be surrounded by Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students as I could not find anyone I knew, except for Blaise Zabini. To my surprise, my fellow Slytherin walked towards me. Ever since the first day when he refused to share a room with me, he and I had kept our distance from each other even though we could have bonded over being the only Foreas in our year.

 

“Fed up with being spun around the dance floor, Potter?” he asked conversationally.

 

“No, just on a short break,” I replied, being on high alert. He would never approach me on his own if he did not have an ulterior motive.

 

“If you say so,” he replied and took a sip of his punch. “Say, are you really a Parselmouth?” he asked in a forced casual voice.

 

“According to the _Daily Prophet_ , I am,” was all I said on the matter. On the inside, I enjoyed that he was just as curious about it than everyone else.

 

“And according to you?” he asked, not letting go.

 

“Shass Siss,” I hissed at him in a bad imitation of Parseltongue and walked away, enjoying the frustrated look on his face.

 

_Walk towards the table in the corner,_ a voice suggested inside my head. _The one hidden from sight by the curtains._ Since I was still in a mood to hide from Emsis, I did not think too much about the sudden idea and walked towards said corner table. Once I was there, the voice made another suggestion. _Use the quill to write down the gems that were in your golden egg._ I stretched out my hand towards the quill, but then stopped. _Why should I write down my gems?_ I frowned. _Pick up the quill_ , the voice repeated.I shook my head. It took me some moments to realise what was happening. Someone cast the Imperius Curse on me.

 

_Pick up the quill and write down your gems from the golden eggs!_ the voice said more demanding now.

 

_No, I don’t want to,_ I thought.

 

_Write down your eggs!_ the voice repeated more forcefully.

 

A mental battle started and my hand moved closer and then away again from the quill.

 

_NO!_ I replied determinedly, finally shaking off the Imperius Curse, but gained a headache in return. I quickly looked around, hoping to find the caster of the curse, but amongst all the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, I did not spot anyone who stood out. Giving up, I decided not to linger any longer and walked quickly back to the other side. _Hopefully I’ll be safe with my friends,_ I thought. _Or with Sirius,_ I added when I saw my godfather walking towards the exist.

 

By the time I caught up to him, he was already opening the doors of the Great Hall. “Sirius,” I called out to him and followed him out the door.

 

“Tired already?” he asked.

 

“Mentally? Yes!” I replied truthfully. I told him about the Imperius Curse that had been cast on me.

 

“It does sound like the Imperius Curse,” Sirius confirmed my initial suspicion and changed his course to walk me towards my room instead of searching for misbehaving students on the ground floor like he was supposed to. “I’m proud of you. Not everyone is able to resist the curse when it is first cast on them. And many cannot even resist it after years of practising,” he praised. “I would suggest that we report the incident, but as none of the judges are on your side and we do not know who cast it, it would be of no use,” he said

.

When we arrived in front of the portrait of the ouroboros that guarded my rooms, Sirius asked “Will you be okay?”

 

“Of course,” I replied. “It’s not like just anyone can get in here.”

 

“That is true,” he returned with a big smile, thinking about how Dumbledore could not even access this room.

 

“ _Back already?_ ” Nagijan asked once I closed the door behind me.

 

“ _Yeah,_ ” I replied, letting myself drop down on the armchair, exhausted. Throwing off the Imperius Curse was mentally taxing.

 

The exhaustion waned as I stroked Nagijan and I began to fidget. Sitting still became unbearable. Here, far from anyone’s reach felt like I was hiding and I did not want to come across as weak in the eyes of the other students, especially not the other two champions and whoever cast the Imperius Curse at me. Decision made, I asked Nagijan to coil himself around me for extra protection.

 

After I told him about the attack, he did not even complain about how itchy the Disillusion Charm was on his skin. My protection had priority.

 

I was just two corners away from the Great Hall when I walked straight into Emsis. “Harry,” he said in a happy voice. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” he said.

 

“Sorry, I had to step out for a moment. My godfather wanted to talk to me,” I quickly came up with an excuse that was partly true.

 

“No worries, Harry,” Emsis replied. “You can make it up by taking a walk around the ground with me.”

 

“I’m sorry, Emsis,” I apologized once more. “But I really would like to go back to the Great Hall. We could have another dance,” I offered as an apology.

 

“Come on, Harry,” Emsis said disparagingly and to my discomfort placed an arm around my waist, just below where Nagijan’s tail was.

 

Nagijan twitched. “ _Wait_ ,” I hissed to him. I wanted to handle the situation myself. Nagijan followed my wish and remained calm. For the moment.

 

Emsis, who heard the short whisper, must have wrongly assumed that I wanted to turn him on with the Parseltongue as his eyes seemed to become even darker. But it could have been just a trick of the light, as it was much darker in the semi-hidden alcove he was guiding me towards than it was out in the open hallway.

 

“It was _you_ who asked _me_ to be your date for the night,” Emsis went on, as he moved us further into the alcove, and out of sight.

 

“But only because I was forced to ask someone from another school,” I explained. “As I told you already, I’m very happy with my fiancé.”

 

“Are you?” he questioned and moved me around so that my back was now pressed against the wall of the alcove.

 

“Yes!” I replied with conviction, short and to the point.

 

“I don’t believe you,” he said with a smirk and leaned forward.

 

I made to push him away, but he must have cast a wordless ‘ _Stupify_ ’ on me, for I could not move.

 

“Look at you;” Emsis drawled, leaning closer, touching my hair.

 

Only feeling Nagjian shift slightly prevented me from going into full panic mode. Nagijan was luckily unaffected by whatever spell had been cast on me.

 

“So young, so beautiful, smelling so sweet,” he said as he moved my braid under his nose, smelling it, making me shudder internally as even this slight movement was prevented by the spell cast on me. “He must be a fool to not have taken you already. “Such sweet, innocent lips, as sweet as lemon drops,” he went on lovingly, his thumb moved across my lips as the other hand caressed my cheek.

 

“Oh, Harry, how sweet you are. How _tight_ you must be,” he said, clearly getting aroused by the image.

 

_Now!_ I thought desperately. _Nagijan strike NOW!_ I screamed in my mind, unable to hiss the simple Parseltongue command.

 

Moments of terrible fear passed. It must only have been ten seconds but to me they felt like ten hours, before Emsis leaned forwards, about to kiss my lips when Nagijan finally attacked. “ _Stay away from Harry!_ ” he screamed as he lunged at Emsis.

 

Emsis must have seen a soft shimmer from the Disillusion Charm, or must have heard something because he moved away from me before Nagijan could bite him. He raised his wand, ready to attack my beloved snake.

 

“Ten points from both of you!” A voice suddenly announced behind us. It was the voice of my least favourite professor, Professor Emerald Peepers. “Oh, it’s you, Potter. Make it twenty points from Slytherin,” she changed her previous declaration.

 

I had never been so happy to see her. I did not even care that she doubled the loss of house points when she saw that it was me.

 

“Get on your way, or it will be another twenty points,” she commanded. While Emsis had already hidden his wand, I did not want to be alone. I was still shaken from the whole ordeal, though I was happy that she had not noticed what had really been happening when she caught us.

 

“You know me, professor,” I said, relieved to be able to speak and more importantly move again. “I would just get into more trouble. Maybe you should walk me back to my room to make sure that I do not get any ideas?” I asked daringly, knowing that this would cost me even more house points, if not earn me a detention. But I did not care about this then. I only cared about not being alone. With Professor Peepers, he hopefully would not dare to try anything else.

 

I was still in shock as Professor Peepers guided me to my rooms. Nagijan had to say the password for me. In a trance, I walked towards my armchair for the second time this night. As I sank down into the cushions, I asked myself why the hell I thought that it was a good idea to leave my room again after the first attack with the Imperius Curse as I stared at the fireplace.

 

Nagijan tried to comfort me with soothing words. As the initial shock wore off, I petted him with shaking hands to comfort myself. I wanted Tom, but I was still to affected to get up and make a simple Floo call.

 

Nearly half an hour after I returned to my rooms, there was a knock on my door. “Harry,” I heard Sirius call out, but did not move from my armchair. Fortunately, Nagijan was able to open the door with a simple Parseltongue command too.

 

“Harry,” Sirius repeated as he stepped inside. “You don’t know how happy I am that you left early. Someone kidnapped your date Einars Emsis,” he told me, but his voice got softer as he realised that I was not alright. Quickly, he walked to my side and knelt down next to my armchair. “Talk to me,” he pleaded.

 

“ _Sirius_ ,” was the only think I was able to reply.

 

“Shit,” he cursed, unable to understand me. He hastily went to the Floo to call Tom, but in his worry about me he forgot that the Floo was protected by a Parseltongue password. “Stupid Parseltongue,” he complained and took out his wand, casting the Patronus charm to send a message that way.

 

Soon the Floo was flaring a bright green as first Severus and then Tom stepped through.

 

“I don’t know what happened,” Sirius quickly explained. “Harry told me that someone tried to use the Imperius Curse on him to find out what stones he received, but when I brought him here, he was okay.”

 

“ _Severus, Tom,_ ” I called out pleadingly.

 

“ _It’s okay, Harry_ ,” Tom replied, kneeling down in front of me. “ _We are here now,”_ he soothed, taking my hands in his own. “ _Can you tell me what happened?_ ” he asked.

 

“ _I...I_ _—_ ” my voice broke.

 

“ _It’s okay, Harry. Take your time,_ ” Tom said, stroking my hand with his thumb.

 

Sirius and Severus both felt utterly helpless as they were forced to watch, without knowing what was going on.

 

“ _Nagijan?_ ” Tom asked, hoping to get some answers from him as I was still unable to voice what happened.

 

“ _I’m he_ _re_ ,” he replied, making himself known.

 

Tom removed the Disillusion Charm from him. My godfathers were relieved to see that Nagijan must have been with me.

 

“ _Can you tell me what happened after Harry returned here with Sirius_?” Tom asked.

 

“ _Harry did not want to hide like a scared rat, so he decided to return to_ _the dance. I went with him to protect him,_ ” Nagijan replied.

 

“Harry went out again,” Tom translated for my godfathers.

 

“Did he meet Einars Emsis?” Sirius asked, concerned.

 

“Emsis? Harry’s date for the Yule ball?” Tom and Severus asked in unison, not knowing what the Durmstrang student could have to do with my current state.

 

“The poor boy was just found, totally confused and still a bit sleepy. The last thing he can remember is walking outside, about to return to his room on the ship to get ready for the ball. So he could not have been the one who accompanied Harry to the ball” Sirius explained. “It’s why I came here in the first place.”

 

“Did you meet Emsis?” Tom asked me, I did not reply. _“_ _Did you meet Emsis?”_ he repeated in Parseltongue.

 

I nodded my head in confirmation.

 

“ _What did he do to you?_ ” he pressed.

 

“ _He...he_ _—_ ” I was unable to voice what nearly happened.

 

“ _He tried to kiss Harry,_ ” Nagijan helpfully supplied. “ _But as you order_ _ed_ _during the summer, I stopped anyone but you from kissing Harry. He moved away before I could get a_ _good bite_ ,” he growled in anger.

 

“ _Cast...ed a Stu-_ _s_ _tup_ _e_ _fy,_ ” I was able to stammer out, a tear falling down my cheek.

 

“Oh, Harry,” Tom said, wanting to take me into his arms, but unsure how I would react to his touch after I was nearly molested.

 

“What is it?” Severus asked.

 

When Tom turned around to face the anxious faces of Severus and Sirius, he moved his hands away from my own, scaring me. I pulled on his hand to keep him there. Taking it as a sign that I wanted him close, he gave in to temptation and finally enveloped me in his arms.

 

A damn broke, I started to sob into his chest. He gently rubbed my back.

 

“The false Emsis stupefied Harry and then tried to kiss him,” Tom explained in a soft whisper to my godfathers.

 

“I’ll KILL him!” Sirius roared.

 

I cried harder, burrowing myself deeper into Tom’s shirt.

 

Severus cast a nasty stinging hex at Sirius. “Think about Harry before you so stupidly make the situation worse.”

 

“ _Shh, it’s alright. I’m here with you,_ ” Tom said, caressing my hair.

 

“Do you know who impersonated Emsis?” Severus asked Sirius, being able to stay level-headed. He would let out is anger once he was alone.

 

“No,” Sirius replied, shaking his head, his hands balled into fists in anger.

 

“Then let’s figure it out,” Severus replied. He produced a vial of Calming Draught from his robes and gave it to Tom. With a final nod to my fiancé, he guided Sirius out of the room, knowing that I was in good hands and they would be of more use to me if they found the real culprit behind the attack.

 

Tom and I stayed on the armchair for some more minutes after they left. When I was a bit calmer, Tom asked Nagijan to move away from me and then lifted me gently up in his arms. The armchair had been gotten uncomfortable as it was too small for the both of us.

 

“ _I’m only taking off your shoes and outer robes_ ,” Tom warned me before he removed the mentioned items.

 

I hated that I was so weak, but at the same time I also felt warm and loved by Tom’s ministrations.

 

“ _Do you want to take the potion?_ ” he asked me.

 

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded my agreement. “Thank you,” I said once I finished the potion and the glass of water Tom handed me, speaking in English for the first time. The Calming Draught was working fast.

 

“Would you like me to stay?” Tom offered after he tucked me in.

 

“Yes.”

 

Once Tom joined me under the sheets, I curled into his side. “Everything will be better in the morning,” he promised me and with that thought in mind the Calming Draught took me under.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-**

  


**Sunday, 25th December 1994**

 

Early the next morning I woke up to soft whispers. Severus and Sirius were in my bedroom, informing Tom of what they were able to find out during their nightly investigation. “He was missing quite a bit of hair too,” I heard Sirius say.

 

“How are you?” Severus asked me when he saw that I was awake, effectively silencing Sirius.

 

“Still a bit shaken,” I honestly answered and Tom stroked my hair to comfort me as I sat up and leaned back against both the headboard and Tom.

 

“Do you think you can tell us what happened?” Tom asked me. “It usually helps with overcoming such a situation.”

 

I took a deep breath to centre myself before I replied. “I’ll try.”

 

“We already know that someone tried to cast the Imperius curse on you, that you were able to throw it off. Then Sirius accompanied you back here, but you decided to be a Gryffindor and return,” Tom told me what they knew and it was clear from his voice that he was not angry with me for my decision to return, which made it easier for me to not blame myself for stupidly deciding to return.

 

“Yeah, I took Nagijan with me to feel safer,” I replied, happy that Tom had given me a place to start. “I was nearly at the Great Hall when I walked into Emsis,” I told them and got corrected by Sirius.

 

“You mean the person who was polyjuiced as Einars Emsis.”

 

“Polyjuiced?” I asked, confused. I had been so distraught yesterday that I never processed what Sirius had said when he entered my room.

 

“Yes,” he said. “The real Emsis was found about an hour after we parted ways yesterday. Since it was clear even from his muddled words that he could not have been at the Yule ball, I came to check up on you.”

 

I was relieved to hear that it was not the real Emsis who tried to rape me. It was comforting to know that Krum had not purposefully advised Hermione that a rapist would be a good date for me.

 

Thinking about Hermione reminded me that she suggested that we use Polyjuice Potion for one of us to turn into a Durmstrang student. I laughed hysterically. “That’s sound like what Hermione suggested we do to get me out of asking someone else out,” I said between laughter. Trauma can make you react weird to the strangest of things. An experience I did not plan to make first-hand ever again.

 

“What did happen then?” Tom asked me, prodding me to continue once I calmed down again.

 

“He wanted to take a walk with me, but I told him that I wanted to return to the Great Hall and offered him a dance.”

 

“He did not agree?” Severus asked.

 

“No,” I said. “He...he manoeuvred me towards an alcove,” I told them, getting a bit anxious. “He...said some disturbing things to me.”

 

“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell us what exactly he said to you,” Tom said.

 

“He was leaning in very close to me, I wanted to push him away, but...” My voice broke.

 

“We’re here for you. Nothing can happen to you now,” Tom said soothingly, hugging me to his side.

 

I regained new strength from his words. I took another deep breath and continued. “I wanted to push him away, but he must have stunned me. Only feeling Nagijan move stopped me from completely panicking. Everything happened so fast after that. He tried to kiss me, Nagijan attacked and then I suddenly heard Professor Peepers. I had never been so happy to see her.”

 

I could literally hear how a stone drop from their hearts. They must have imagined an even worse situation based on how besides myself I was yesterday night.

 

“Do you know who it was?” I asked them in a tiny voice.

 

“No,” Sirius negated, sounding very depressed over it. “Based on the statements on how often he went to the bathroom and the missing hair of the real Emsis, we could only confirm that the Polyjuice Potion had been used. The Auror office is investigating who bought Boomslang skin in the last two months.”

 

“After the Tournament I would have pointed my wand at Dumbledore,” Severus said. “But he was seen at the same time as the imposter Emsis.”

 

“Yeah, I spotted him when I entered the Great Hall for the opening dance,” I confirmed.

 

“We don’t think that this and the incident with the Imperius Curse are related,” Tom told me. “While not legal, it is clear that it was purely related to the next task and no attack on you as a person but just as a champion. The other incident though that was _personal_ ,” he said, his body tensing. It was clear that he was very angry about what happened, even though I had escaped without any physical harm.

 

“Don’t tell anyone about it. Especially not my friends!” I pleaded with them.

 

“We won’t,” they said in unison.

 

“But for our ease of mind, I would like to ride the train with you,” Sirius said.

 

“Thank you,” I said, glad that I would have a former Auror and trusted family member with me. It was only then that I realised that it was actually Christmas Morning. “Merry Christmas!” I told them.

 

“Merry Christmas!” they replied, the mood lifting. A week ago we would never have thought that this years Christmas would turn out like this.

 

“Maybe it is a good thing that we decided to celebrate Christmas a day later this year,” Severus said in a dry voice, making me laugh, which made the men in the room smile. It was good to see me happy again. It would take some more days for me to overcome and process what happened last night, but I was confident that I would get over it, especially since I would have my family surrounding me over the next two weeks.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**Credit:** Dumbledore’s attempt at the Yule ball was inspired by **VannahBlackRose** who wrote me a comment (“...Have Dumbles try to woo Harry away from Tom as some kind of anonymous admirer...”) on AO3. Not exactly what was suggested, but I hope you still like it?

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**AN:** I never said that the Happily Ever After arc didn’t have it’s dark moment, and the name only implies that the ending will be happy, not the part in the middle. The next part will have a happier atmosphere.


	31. Chapter 21-Part IV

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

**Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

**Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

**AN:** And now the  fourth part of chapter 21.  I  already foresee a part 5 and 6 to come.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

**-~-~- Chapter** **21 –** **Part I** **V** **-~-~-**

  


**Sunday, 25th December 1994**

 

If my friends noticed my strange behaviour, or how Nagijan clung to me, or wondered why Sirius was sitting in our compartment on the Hogwarts Express, they didn’t say anything. We told them that someone had attempted to find out what stones I’d received by casting the Imperius curse on me, so maybe they thought that it was related to that incident.

 

“It is likely that we’ll be targeted too,” Hermione voiced her concern. “While they cannot be sure that we know, they can still try, especially after they failed with you,” she reasoned.

 

“Let us enjoy Christmas first, before we worry about this,” Draco said. “It’s not like they can get to us in our own homes.”

 

I smiled. This was so typical of Draco, thinking of his Christmas presents first.

 

“Maybe some Occlumency lessons...” Sirius thought out loud.

 

“Oh, I would love to learn Occlumency,” Hermione immediately jumped at the idea.

 

“It’s not easy,” Sirius warned. “If the Occlumency requirement for Auror training was changed from attendance only to successfully withstanding a mental attack, we only would have a handful of Aurors if any at all,” he said grimly.

 

“Severus and Tom have both mastered it. Legilimency too,” I said, proudly.

 

“As has Dumbledore,” Hermione pointed out.

 

“We could at least try,” Draco said.

 

“Yeah, it is a good idea,” I agreed.

 

“What is a good idea?” one of the twins asked as they entered our compartment.

 

“Trying to learn Occlumency,” I told them.

 

“We’re in,” Fred said.

 

“And we’re leaning it why?” George asked, but did not disagree.

 

And so we quickly informed them about the failed attempt with the Imperius curse and that Dumbledore was a Legilimence.

 

Of course, Sirius would not be able to teach all of us, but we knew enough skilled persons to arrange one-on-one tutor session. “We could ask Tom, Severus and Bellatrix to help out,” I said. “I’m sure that they’ll all agree.”

 

“If their beloved _Harry-kins_ asked, they won’t have a choice but to agree,” Fred said in his best imitation of Bellatrix’s voice.

 

“We call dibs on Sirius, by the way,” George added. “Cannot allow anyone but a fellow prankster access into our heads,” he reasoned. We all laughed.

 

Draco, Hermione, and I looked at each other. It was a difficult decision. On the one hand, Hermione and I could use it as an excuse to spend even more time with our crushes, but on the other hand, it would also mean that they in turn would very likely see the private fantasies we had with them in starring roles. It could get really, really embarrassing for us. And Bella sure would love to tease Draco in front of his parents about all of his fantasies, whatever or whoever they were about. But knowing my friends, only Hermione would be comfortable being taught by Tom, leaving Severus as Draco’s and Bellatrix as my instructor.

 

“So?” Draco asked, leaving the decision to Hermione and I.

 

I shrugged my shoulders.  I would spend the holidays with Tom independent of Occlumency lessons. Draco and I were both watching Hermione now, even the twins and Sirius were staring at her, eager to hear her decision. “ Severus,” she said decisively. 

 

“I’ll ask aunt Bella,” Draco said, as I expected leaving Tom for me.

 

“It’s set then,” Sirius said and left the compartment to go to the restroom.

 

“You should ask him to teach you Legilimency too,” George suggested to Hermione once Sirius closed the door behind him. Then, in a loud whisper he added, “To find out if he has fantasies about you, you know?” he asked and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

 

I laughed. Leave it to the Weasley twins to make me completely forget about what happened  last night.  So, it was with a big smile on my face that I left the Hogwarts Express. The smile turned into outright laughter when I saw how Ronald Weasley behaved when he saw Fleur Delacour’s parents, or her half-Veela mother to be precise.  We thought that his drooling face when he got to o close to Fleur was already hilarious, but now he was standing there, gawking at her mother, saliva running down his open mouth like a river.  If it were not for Ginny giving him a firm hit on the head, he would have salivated a puddle before long.

 

“I fear you have no chance with my godfather,” Draco told Hermione, who looked perplex at him. Draco pointed just to the right of where Fleur’s family was waiting. 

 

There, just two steps away were Severus, Tom, Lucius,  Narcissa and Hermione’s mum,  waiting for us.  It was very suspicious of them to be so close to the Delacours.

 

“Any man that stands that close to a half-Veela who doesn’t restrain her powers without showing any sign of being affected must be gay,” Draco explained. “Or have some Veela blood, as diluted as it may be,” he quickly added when he saw how Hermione was ready to protest. His father, who certainly was not gay, was standing right next to Severus and was not affected either.

 

“Giving away your long-guarded family secret so freely?” I jokingly asked. As long as I knew Draco and Lucius they always found a way around giving a straight answer to the question whether the Malfoy blond hair was a result of a Veela ancestor or not.

 

“Don’t look at me like that!” Draco complained when I tried to find anything else ‘Veela’ about him. I must have been unconsciously staring.

 

“Maybe his Occlumency shield is just stronger than her allure,” Hermione reasoned, not giving up on her crush just yet. She had overheard Sirius teasing Severus of having had a crush on a woman back in their school days once.

 

“Or Veela is just not his type and he prefers bossy, bushy-haired women,” Fred suddenly spoke up behind Hermione and then quickly returned to the where the rest of his family was waiting, afraid that Severus overheard his comment and would send a stinging hex his way.

 

“Merry Christmas,” Sirius wished to all of us, his gaze lingering on the Delacours as he hastily Apparated back to Hogsmead before the Veela allure could affect him even further. He may be in love with Remus, but it did not change the fact that he was bi-sexual and thus vulnerable to the Veela allure.

 

I was about four meters away from Fleur’s family when I noticed a pull. If the force of the Imperius Curse was like someone had wrapped a thick rope around my neck and was pulling on it to make me move towards them, the Veela’s allure felt like a small child was tucking on my shirt to get my attention. Just enough to be noticeable but very easy to shake free from.

 

_Not completely gay then,_ I concluded, but did not spend any more thoughts on the revelation. I was in love with Tom, my fiancé. Whether I also found other people attractive did not matter. Regardless of their gender, I would only ever have eyes for Tom.

 

There was a round of “Merry Christmas’s!” when we finally joined the adults that were waiting for us.

 

“Your dad has an emergency patient,” Hermione’s mother explained before my friend could ask about him. “Bit on the penny in the Christmas pudding and broke off half of his front tooth.”

 

Draco and I shared a look and laughed. It earned us a whack on the head from Hermione.

 

“Narcissa invited all of us to dinner,” Severus said, though we both knew that he was really asking me if I was well enough to go, or if I would rather go home, where I would feel the most secure.

 

“Just us?” I asked Narcissa.

 

“Lord Slytherin, Bella, and Rabastan will be joining us, and Lucius will pick up Hermione’s father in half an hour, Rodolphus has to work,” Narcissa replied.

 

“Sounds great. Thank you,” I replied. Since it was only family, I did not feel afraid to go. And it would be a good time to voice our request for Occlumency lessons.

 

Draco, Hermione, and I were surprised how easily everyone agreed to our suggestion. Bellatrix joyfully told us that she. for the first time in years, had gotten the holiday season off of work. It was clear that she was very excited to spend every day during the next two weeks with her godson, going so far as to stay at Malfoy Manor until we returned to school.

 

Hermione’s parents were on-call for the holidays, so they did not mind her spending three hours each day at Slytherin Manor.

 

Severus and Tom agreed that it was important that we all learned Occlumency. It took a bit before they came to a decision.

 

Tom slightly raised his head. His way of asking Severus _‘Do you want to keep it professional and teach Harry?’_

 

Severus’ gaze shifted a bit to the left, indicating that he would teach Hermione instead.

 

Tom smirked only for Severus to raise an eyebrow in challenge, a smirk of his own brushing across his face. They were teasing each other of how entertaining it would be to watch us attempting to seduce the other.

 

“I’ll pick you up at nine,” Severus finally told Hermione. “We can add in some Potions lessons if we have time.”

 

Hermione smiled happily.

 

“Speaking about Occlumency,” Severus said. “Fire opal and amethyst. These are Miss Delacour’s stones.”

 

“You used Legilimency on her?” Hermione asked.

 

“Since Mrs Delacour purposefully waited next to me to use her allure to make me tell her your stones, I thought it only fair to return the favour. That her own attempt failed is not my problem,” he stated dryly.

 

“I thought they taught their students Occlumency in their sixth year,” Narcissa said once we had all toasted to gaining the very valuable information.

 

“But Miss Gabrielle Delacour is just a nine- year-old without any mental barriers at all,” Severus told her.

 

“It seems like her lucky charm is actually her downfall,” Lucius stated humorously. We all shared a smile.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

**Monday, 26th December 1994**

 

‘ _He must be a fool to not have taken you already. Such sweet, innocent lips, as sweet as lemon drops.’_

 

I woke up bathed in sweat, the last words of my nightmare still ringing in my head. _Swe_ _et as_ _lemon drop_ _s...Sweet as lemon drops…_

 

“Sweet as lemon drops,” I recited in a whisper. And then, “Lemon drops!” I repeated louder, having a sudden revelation. I sprang out of the bed. There was only one person I knew who would declare lemon drops as something sweet. I went straight to Tom, not caring that it was the middle of the night.

 

“What time is it?” Tom asked me groggily.

 

“Quarter after three?” I answered sheepishly after I looked at the clock on his bedside table.

 

“Do you want to break Draco’s record of waking up his parents at four?” he asked

 

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I had a dream.”

 

Tom’s demeanour changed. “Did you have a nightmare?” he asked carefully.

 

“Yeah,” I admitted.

 

In reply Tom lifted up his duvet, inviting me to sleep in his bed like a small child who was afraid to sleep alone.

 

“I’m fourteen not four,” I said as I nevertheless accepted his invitation.

 

“I’m aware,” he replied.

 

“But that’s not why I’m here,” I told him as I got comfortable. _Tom really makes a good pillow,_ I thought. “I just remembered something the polyjuiced Emsis said: ‘Sweet as lemon drops.’ A strange comparison, don’t you think?”

 

“It is,” he agreed, also thinking of Dumbledore. “But several people saw him in the Great Hall when it happened. I don’t think he could manipulate the memory of so many people.”

 

“What if someone else was polyjuiced as him, while he was pretending to be Emsis?” I asked.

 

“A possibility,” Tom said. “Risky though.”

 

We both contemplated other options, before Tom said, “Let’s try to get some sleep. We can worry about it after Christmas.”

 

With a yawn, I agreed, returning into Morpheus’ arms.

  


**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

When I had not woken him up at seven thirty, Severus had come looking for me. When he found my bed empty, he’d went into Tom’s room. After knocking on the bedroom door he began to ask “Have you...” but stopped when he saw that I slept on peacefully in Tom’s arms. He knew that it was normal for teenagers did distance themselves from their parents, or in this case parental figure, so he was happy that the person I now confided in Tom rather than a fellow teenager.

 

Tom woke up though. When the men connected eyes, Tom mouthed that we would join him soon. I only woke when I heard a door softly clicking close.

 

“Merry Christmas, Harry” he greeted me with a sweet smile.

 

“Merry Christmas,” I repeated and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

 

“Severus is already waiting for us. He popped in looking for you a minute ago,” Tom said as he slowly got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. When I heard the shower turn on, I really, really wanted to follow Tom into the bathroom. But even though it was Christmas, I doubted Tom would give in. So with a sigh, I left the comfy and warm bed, which also smelled like Tom, to shower in my own bathroom. I raised an eyebrow when I saw that Nagijan had followed me into Tom’s room and was sleeping curled up with Nagini in front of fireplace.

 

While I was in the shower, the memory of the Yule ball rained down on me like water from the spout. As much as I tried to suppress the event for the sake of enjoying our belated Christmas celebration, I had no control over the memory. Just like I had no control over the event. _It just happened two nights ago,_ I reminded myself. _You will get over it in no time!_ A deep breath. _I’ll ask them to give me some defence lessons,_ I decided, hoping that greater confidence in my own skills would allow me to feel more at ease. Learning how to dispel a Stunner wandless and wordlessly was my number one priority, coming before everything I needed to learn for the next task of the Tri-wizard tournament.

 

When I joined the adults in the living room, Severus already had a cup of cocoa ready for me. I smiled at him in thanks. Together we opened our Christmas presents, by mutual silent agreement not talking about the incident or the Tournament.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**Tuesday, 27th December 1994**

 

“Harry! You’re the best!” Draco greeted me as soon as he emerged from the Floo and gave me a big hug.

 

“I’m happy that you like my Christmas present,” I said to him as I returned the hug.

 

He was soon joined by Hermione and the Weasley twins. The five of us gather in the library. The adults had decided that we would have our first Occlumency lesson today. Tom and Severus had compiled a small pile of books about the basic theory for us to read in the morning. After lunch, we would be able to ask all four of them questions before we would continue with our first one-on-one lesson.

 

As the five of us studied the books, the adults took the opportunity to discuss the current situation with Dumbledore, having decided to inform Bellatrix about what happened. One of the reason for this decision was that they wanted a Healer’s expert opinion on my mental health after the attack and what support they could provide.

 

Bellatrix’s positive assessment of my mental health did ease their minds greatly. What worried everyone though was Tom’s report of my dream. There was no doubt in their minds that only Dumbledore would have said “as sweet as lemon drops.”

 

“A second person using Polyjuice to give him an alibi is a possibility,” Tom said. “It’s too risky though as they could easily betray him.”

 

“He could have oblivated or killed them,” Bellatrix pointed out.

 

“But they would only need to say one wrong thing and people would get suspicious,” Sirius pointed out.

 

“What about a Time Turner?” Severus asked. “He could have embezzled it from a student who applied for more courses than they could handle normally. Maybe even forged an application to get one from the Ministry of Magic.”

 

“I can look into it. I’m sure Minerva can give me a copy of the list of students who have applied for one in the recent years,” Sirius offered.

 

“Regardless of how he did it, we have to do something about him,” Tom said, angrily.

 

“I would love nothing more than to take Harry out of Hogwarts,” Severus began. “But with the tournament, he is forced to stay until the end of the year,” he grunted in displeasure.

 

“And even if we get him removed as Headmaster, as a judge of the tournament he’ll find a way to stay at the school until at least the summer. And a scared animal is an even more dangerous animal. And I do not want to think about what he’ll do if he becomes desperate,” Sirius voiced his concerns.

 

“So for now, we let him believe that we have no idea that he is behind it?” Tom asked. The others nodded in agreement.

 

“We can use the time to plan a way to get rid of him permanently,” Severus said.

 

“I want revenge first,” Bellatrix stated.

 

And so the next two hours they began to plot, discussing whether Severus should try to get the position as the Potions master to have one more person inside the castle. They argued if I should change schools or be home schooled next year, or if they should replace Dumbledore as headmaster. The latter would mean the least adjustment for me, but it would also mean that they had less than eight months to finalize their plans. A very hard task considering that Dumbledore was not only deeply rooted to Hogwarts but also the Ministry where he had many friends.

 

What they could easily agree on was that for the time being one of my friends should accompany me whenever I would leave my rooms in Hogwarts.

 

When they met us for lunch, I was unaware what they’d discussed, or that they told Bella. It was only at the end of the holidays when Tom and Severus would tell me the very basic of their plans as they did not want Dumbledore to find out there plans through Legilimency.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

“Ready?” Tom asked.

 

“Not really,” I replied. “But I’ll try my best,” I said, sure that Tom would have no problem entering my mind.

 

I did not feel anything as I once more went through the instructions I read that morning: ‘Empty your mind!’ being the first step. From there my thoughts wandered to one of the talks we had.

 

“ _So anything in particular you need to hide?” George asked._

 

“ _Yeah, some interesting daydreams you don’t want to share with your sexy instructor?” Fred asked._

 

“ _Or would like him to make a reality?” George added._

 

_It did not take me long to think of such an example. Just last night I had given in to my desires. The enticing smell of Tom’s bedsheets still fresh in my memory from the morning, I moved my right hand up and down my cock. I imagined that I was still lying in Tom’s bed, leaned my head to the side, burying my head in the pillow. I let my fantasy run loose. With my mind’s eyes I saw how Tom, only clad in a towel, water still dripping down his body entered the bedroom. On the bed, I wetted my left forefinger and then moved it to my rear._

 

_The imaginary Tom took slow steps towards the bed, his eyes fixed on my body which was on display for him. I moaned loudly in reality, and tightened my grip as my hand picked up speed, my other hand stimulating my prostate. I groaned, Tom’s name silently leaving my lips as I orgasmed._

 

_It was when I rode out my orgasm that I noticed that something was different. While I pleasured myself as often as any other teenage boy, I only rarely stimulated my prostate. Thus, it was only now that I noticed that the entrance to my Foreas opening was now blocked. It was not like an infection or a tumour. It felt like someone had placed a thin elastic film, similar to a piece of cling film above it. I would need to look it up to find out if this development was normal or if I needed to swallow my pride and see a Healer about it._

 

“It’s the effect of the contraception potion,” Tom said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “It takes some time until the barrier is thick enough to prevent sperm from passing through.”

 

It took me a minute to realize that Tom had been talking to me and another passed until I processed what it meant. My face must have become redder than the Weasley twins’ hair. If they hadn’t brought up that topic, Tom would never have seen the memory.

 

When I finally found my wit again, I tried to distract Tom from what he had just see and asked, “Shouldn’t I have felt something when you entered my mind?”

 

“If I’d searched for a certain memory, yes,” Tom replied. “But I just remained at the forefront of your mind, silently listening to your current thoughts. Protecting your memories is the main purpose of Occlumency. But your current thoughts are just as vulnerable, if not more so. As a silent listener, one does not need to search through your mind, raising alarming bells as they go,” he explained to me. “That’s why mediating and clearing one’s mind is the first step in learning Occlumency.”

 

I was happy that after the explanation, Tom did not ask me any more about what he saw, and instead we concentrated again on Occlumency, as I more or less successfully tried to think of nothing, but more than once my mind drifted off. From trying to think of a sea of black nothingness or a calming waterfall, my mind drifted to what was right in front of me. I saw Tom before me and thought of how tempting his lips looked, or how much I would like to just bury my hands in his wavy black hair. Tom did not comment on any of this either.

 

Two hours later, we met up with Hermione and Severus for dinner.

 

“How can you not be exhausted?” Hermione asked me disbelieving as she dropped down into the chair next to mine.

 

I looked at her strangely. Trying to not think about anything was harder than it sounded, but it was not as exhausting as Hermione made out to be.

 

“Sissy,” I heard Severus whisper towards Tom. Hermione’s eyes widened. She had not expected Severus to use such a word. I was more confused by what he insinuated.

 

“We’ll see what method will be more effective in the end,” was Tom’s reply as he raised his wine glass, challenging Severus.

 

“Severus went looking for memories,” she told me. “What did Lord Slytherin do?”

 

“He just lingered at the edge of my thoughts,” I explained to her.

 

“No headache?” she asked.

 

I shook my head.

 

Hermione was silent during the next minutes, probably thinking about the pros and cons of both teaching methods as she ate the lasagne.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**Friday, 31st December 1994**

 

Over the next few days, Tom and I had worked hard on improving my Occlumency skills. Even with the daily training, four days was not enough to see any immediate results. But focusing on clearing my mind help me to not think about what happened during the Yule ball. And as Tom began searching for particular memories, I became more worried about what he might see than worrying about that night. Not that he was searching for such embarrassing memories.

 

Yesterday, Tom had searched for a memory from our time in Disneyland. This made me reminiscent, which was why I was currently leafing through our photo albums in the living room. I was taking special notice of how Tom and Severus had changed during the last decade. It was interesting to see that Severus and Tom looked about the same age when I was much younger, Severus now looked noticibly older than Tom. Thus, it was hard for me to believe that today Tom was already celebrating his sixty-eighth birthday. He still looked no older than twenty-five.

 

“Maybe you gave him too many grey hairs,” Tom joked when I informed him about my observation.

 

“Are you sure that you did not steal the Philosopher’s Stone from Flamel?” I asked.

 

“I don’t need to steal from an old man to stay young,” he said with a smile as he petted Nagini.

 

“What did you do then?” I asked, curious.

 

“Become better at Legilimency than I am at Occlumency and you may find out,” was all he said. But I knew him well enough that if he felt that the time was right, he would tell me about whatever he did on his own. No mind arts needed. And if I became too impatient, I could try to bribe Nagini with some rabbits. But once more Dumbledore forced Tom’s hand, telling me one of his most guarded secrets before my next birthday as he began to fear that I would not see my next birthday otherwise.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

  


**Question:** So who noticed in the previous part when Emsis said “A bit light though,” that it was not a reference to the colour of Harry’s grey clothes but to Harry’s magic and was connected to the Intermission (”While Gellert’s, Tom’s, Severus’, and Bella’s magic and aura was dark, mine was a light grey colour.”) ?

  


**AN:** Not the second task as I planned, but it will definitely be in the next update  as I already started on describing the task.


	32. Chapter 21-Part V

**Disclaimer** **:** See prologue.

 **Guide:** "Speech", _Thoughts,_ _ **~letters and other written things**_ _ **~**_ , “ _Parseltongue_ _”_

 **Beta:** cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.

 **Warnings for this chapter:** life-threatening situations

 **AN:** And now the fifth part, the second Tri-wizard tournament task.

* * *

**-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-**

**-~-~-by Still** **W** **aters** **A** **re** **D** **eep-~-~-**

 **-~-~- Chapter** **21 –** **Part** **V** **-~-~-**

 

**Thurs** **day,** **2** **3** **th February 1995**

 

Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man. First, Emerald Peepers ruined his perfect plan to take me during the Yule ball. And once I returned from the holidays, I was always accompanied by at least one of my friends, making me unapproachable. He was still undecided what he should do about Severus’ sudden application to become Hogwarts’ Potions master. One the one hand, he could get back at Peepers by firing her. Severus was far better at Potions anyways. But it would also mean that I had one more person inside the castle that would make a second attempt on me so much harder. So, for now, he decided to put off his decision until after the tournament.

 

Another thing that greatly annoyed him was that Sirius was giving me private lessons on how to wandlessly and wordlessly dispel a Stunner. And as if on cue, Sirius announced my first successful attempt to him on the same day as the other judges rejected his idea to have a Valentine’s Day ball.

 

“Not traditional,” he’d imitated Madame Maxime’s accent right to her face. “Traditions have to start at some point,” he’d argued. “And don’t forget that it was _me_ who reinstated the tournament. I’m the one keeping this tradition alive.” He was still flatly rejected.

 

This eve of the second task did not go any better for him. Without any forewarning to us, the champions were to be woken up in the middle of the night and taken out to the grounds to begin hiding and warding our stones. It was thought that sleep deprivation would make the next day’s events more entertaining for the audience.

 

Having to collect me just like the other two headmasters were currently collecting their champion didn’t bother Dumbledore. No, what greatly angered him was the fact that he’d already knocked on my door several times, and I had not opened it for him. He’d even tried to force the ouroboros into opening for him, but only gained a very angry hiss from the snake. He’d contemplated simply giving up. He didn’t care about the tremendous disadvantage that I would have come morning, only that Kakaroff and Madame Maxime would laugh at him for being unable to get his own student. And thus, he decided to enlist the help of Sirius

 

After he knocked on the door, he waited, and waited and waited. He was about to go to his office to immediately fire Sirius, when the door finally opened.

 

“How can I help you, Headmaster?” Sirius asked, making it clear with his voice that he was very, very annoyed to have been interrupted.

 

“I need to talk with your godson,” was all Dumbledore said.

 

“With all respect, do you know how late it is?” Sirius asked.

 

“I’m the headmaster of this school,” Dumbledore replied.

 

“And I am his godfather,” Sirius answered. “Professor too,” he added.

 

“It’s for Harry’s own good that I see him right now,” he said, having to remind himself that he needed to stay calm if he wanted to get me in the next twenty minutes.

 

“Yeah?” Sirius questioned, believing that it was just an excuse for the headmaster to get me alone. “I say that it is better for Harry if he is not disturbed right now, so that he’ll be well rested tomorrow.”

 

Grinding his teeth, he saw no choice but to tell Sirius why exactly he needed to see me, but still trying to hold back as much information as possible.

 

It was nearly ten minutes later when he stood again in front of the ouroboros portrait. “Harry, Dumbledore needs to see you. It’s about the next task” Sirius called through the door, hoping that I was still up and presentable.

 

He was very lucky. I had just returned from Slytherin manor where I’d met with Tom, Severus and Bella and was about to go and take a shower when I heard him knock. _What does the old fool want now?_ I thought as I opened the door, but only a crack. While Sirius being there calmed me immensely, I still did not like that Dumbledore was so close.

 

“Yes?” I asked, letting my annoyance show through.

 

“Good evening, Harry, my boy,” Dumbledore began. Not wanting to lose any more time, he came straight to the point. “It’s time to begin the next task. Get your egg and then we’ll go and join the other champions,” he said, his voice making it clear that he was in a hurry and had no patience to spare.

 

“Let’s get ready, Harry,” Sirius said and moved passed Dumbledore to enter my room and then let the portrait shut right in his face.

 

We both ignored the “Sirius, you cannot come with Harry!” that Dumbledore screamed at the portrait.

 

We did not lose any time. I called Nagijan to me so that he could coil around me before I put on one of my looser cloaks to hide him from view and then looked around for the contact lenses Hermione had ordered via her parents.

 

“Where’s the invisibility cloak?” Sirius asked, already having come up with a plan to follow me. Once he had the cloak in his hands, he got a small mirror out of his trouser pocket.

 

After stealing me away right after breakfast during the first task and the fact that the second task consisted of both warding and ward breaking, we strongly anticipated that the task would start before the officially given time and had planned accordingly. Everyone was on call and Sirius and Remus had created some more copies of their connected mirrors for all of us. Though, we had not anticipated to be so lucky that Sirius would be with me right from the beginning.

 

“Remus,” Sirius called, and was soon answered by his lover. “Dumbledore has come to collect Harry. I’ll follow behind with James’ cloak. Could you inform the others and get ready to come over once the coast is clear?”

 

Once Remus agreed to do just that, Sirius quickly stuffed the invisibility cloak into his robe pocket. After he checked that it did not poke out, he joined me in the living room where I picked up the golden egg with the two stones.

 

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said and gave me an encouraging hug.

 

Together we left through the portrait, where Dumbledore was waiting. “I’ll be on my way,” Sirius quickly excused himself to disappear behind the nearest corner, where he would put on the cloak and then follow right behind me. And even if Dumbledore would Apparate me away, Sirius still had the Marauder’s Map to track me as long as we stayed on the grounds of Hogwarts.

 

Dumbledore, happy that Sirius left us on his own accord, swiftly put a hand on my back to guide me forward.

 

The unexpected and very much unwelcomed touch made me jump. Nagijan hissed at Dumbledore, forcing him to keep his distance.

 

“The rules forbid you from bringing your familiar to the tasks,” Dumbledore said.

 

“The task has not started yet, has it?” I replied, drawing strength from Nagijan’s creative threats to Dumbledore’s life.

 

We did not say anything more until we arrived at our destination: the courtyard. The other two headmasters and their champion, as well as Bagman were already there, waiting for us.

 

“Good, we’re all here now,” Bagman said. “Everyone has their two stones?” he asked. We nodded. “You know what you’re supposed to do?” he asked next. We nodded once more. “Perfect!” he exclaimed and fished out a bag from his robe pockets. “We’ll decide who gets which area by lot,” he explained. “Mr Potter, you have the most points right now,” he said and held out the bag to me.

 

While we did make planes for all three areas, I still favoured the forest. It was the area with the most hiding possibilities while being easily accessible without the help of a broom or gillyweed. The lake would be okay too, certainly less exposed than the Quidditch pitch, which I did not want at all especially with Viktor Krum being part of the game.

 

 _Forest, forest,_ I pleaded as I placed my hand into the bag and closed my hand around one of the three balls inside it.

 

“Trees,” Bagman announced before I had the chance to take a proper look at the ball myself. A stone fell from my heart.

 

“Mr Krum?” Bagman prompted.

 

Viktor took his sweet time, obviously undecided which of the two remaining balls he should take. I took the time to look at my ball. Similar to the animated miniature dragons during the first task, they seemed to not have spared any Transfiguration and Charm expertise to create a miniature of the Forbidden Forest inside a transparent ball. _It’s only missing the snow_ _and it’d_ _be a beautiful_ _snow_ _globe_ , I thought.

 

“We don’t have all night,” Madame Maxime complained. “If you cannot decide, let Fleur pick instead.”

 

Krum grunted, before he finally removed a ball from the bag.

 

“Air,” Bagman announced when he saw the miniature Quidditch pitch inside the ball. “Which leaves water to Miss Delacour,” he said and Fleur quickly removed the miniature of the Black Lake from the bag.

 

“All three areas have about the same size, even if their shape may vary,” he told us.

 

 _So Krum probably can go as high as he likes with how small the Quidditch_ _pitch_ _is compared to the Black Lake,_ I thought, happy that my Firebolt was the best broom on the market. _Krum w_ _on’t_ _be able to_ _go_ _higher than I._ I smiled.

 

“To ensure that no cheating takes place, the headmaster from one of the other schools will show you to your area. They’ll return at seven o’clock sharp to collect you. You must hide the stone inside the predetermined area, otherwise they are counted as won by the enemy,” Bagman explained.

 

“Shall we go, Monsieur Potter?” Madame Maxime asked, her wand already lit and walking towards the forest before Dumbledore could remember that Nagijan was still with me and demand that I leave him behind, or worse, with him. “The area in the forest is the same as the one where the dragons for the first task were kept,” she told me as we followed a path behind Hagrid’s hut into the Forbidden Forest.

 

“I didn’t know that the dragons were kept in the forest,” I replied, not that the information changed anything.

 

“Here we are,” she announced when we stopped before a glowing red line about ten feet inside the clearing that must have housed the dragons as some of the surrounding trees showed signs of having been burned. “This line shows you the limit of your area. The top of the largest three is the highest you’re allowed to go,” she explained.

 

“Anything else?” I asked. Since she did not say anything on how deep I was allowed to dig, I was thinking of hiding one of the stones inside a very, very deep hole.

 

“That was all. Good luck, Monsieur Potter. Be back here at seven,” she said before she left, probably to go and see if she could help Fleur.

 

Once we were sure that she would not return, Sirius removed the invisibility cloak and cast a charm that made some light bubbles appear in front of us. I activated my mirror to inform the others where we were.

 

“Do you think they’ll check up on us?” I asked.

 

“I don’t think so. Dumbledore maybe, but we can set up wards to prevent him from entering and seeing what is happening inside,” Sirius said. “But first, let me have a look at this line.” Sirius stepped closer to the red line, but was careful to not touch it or get too close.

 

“Madame Maxime did stop before crossing the line,” I remembered. “Now that I thinking about it, it is a bit suspicious.”

 

“Yeah, but not as suspicious as Karkaroff. I believe he manipulated the drawing. I saw him wave his wand in the direction of the bag when it was Krum’s turn,” Sirius told me before returning his focus to the line. He studied it in silence for several minutes before announcing that he’d discovered its purpose.

 

“It registers everyone who enters or leaves the enclosed area. I suggest you enter and look for a good places to hide the stones, but leave Nagijan here for now,” Sirius said. “I do not know if it will also record animals. If something unexpected happens, just send the red sparks,” he instructed.

 

I began by following the red line so as to get a feel for the space I had and to avoid getting lost in the dark forest. As far as I could tell about one third of my area consisted of the clearing, whereas the other two thirds was made up of a more or less dense forest. I figured that the area was square shaped and each side measured about four hundred meters. By the time I reached Sirius once again, Tom, Severus, Bella and Remus had joined him.

 

“I see that the Potter luck came through,” Severus said, referring to my lucky draw.

 

“Now it only needs to enable you to cross the line,” I replied.

 

“It should be possible,” Tom replied. “It does not register animals or,” he turned to Sirius. “animagi.” Before I had even registered what Tom had said, a big black dog bounded over the line towards me. Nagijan and Nagini were quick to follow once Tom translated the message for them.

 

“And what are we going to do?” Remus asked, not wanting to be left behind.

 

“Give me some time,” Tom replied and then flew up into the air.

 

“And?” Severus asked, once Tom returned back to them.

 

“It’s as I expected, the wards only reach up until a bit over the tree line. If we pass above, we won’t be detected.

 

“You can fly?” I asked in astonishment as Bella took to the air without a broom along with Severus and Tom.

 

“You’re not the only one who studied and worked hard in the last months,” she replied with a smirk. I pouted. I would love to learn how to fly too, but the tournament forced me to focus on other branches of magic.

 

“Now that we’re all here,” Sirius announced after everyone had flown up and over, with or without the help of a broom, “let’s start with keeping Dumbledore out.”

 

“I’ll help you,” Remus said, while Tom, Severus and Bella decided to help me look for suitable hiding places.

 

It was midnight by the time Sirius and Remus finished with their task and joined us.

 

“How about you try and get some sleep?” Remus suggested.

 

“I’ve brought some blankets and pillows,” Bella called from above us where she and Tom were currently creating a hiding place in the tree tops. We decided to hide one of the stones higher up, creating an equally heavily warded area right under the tree to lead the other two champions astray.

 

I hesitated.

 

“We talked about it,” Tom said as he decended. “We can only help you with the warding, you’ll have to retrieve the other stones on your own. And for that, you need your rest.”

 

I knew that he was right, but I still felt bad for sleeping while they worked around me. And I told them so.

 

“Don’t worry Harry, we won’t be up all night either,” Remus said. “We’re five people creating ten or fifteen warded places. We’ll be done in another three hours at the most.”

 

“And I’ll tell you about all the prank traps I included in the morning,” Sirius promised.

 

“Not as good as the bed in your dorm, but it should suffice,” Bellatrix said, presenting me the makeshift bed she’d transfigured from some branches and made up with the blanket and pillows she brought from home.

 

“Get some rest,” Tom repeated and put a hand on my back to guide me towards the makeshift bed.

 

Once my head hit the pillow, exhaustion soon claimed me and I fell into a deep sleep.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

**Friday,** **24th February 1995**

 

“Good morning sleepyhead,” Sirius greeted me the next morning.

 

“Mor—ning,” I replied with a yawn. It took me some moments to remember where I was and why I was there.

 

“It’s all done and ready,” Sirius proudly proclaimed and then, as promised, went on to tell me about all the pranks he’d installed in the fake hideouts.

 

“The replicas of the gems Bellatrix created are very remarkable,” Tom praised and then he told me the Parseltongue passwords he included in the wards that were protecting the real stones. Tom had taken the time to twist the wards in such a way that each major layer could be quickly dissolved by saying the right Parseltongue password. This way I could easily access my own stones in case I needed to retrieve either of them. I suspected Severus was behind the actual password choice of potion recipies. At least I knew how to brew the Cure for Boils and the Shrinking Solution by heart, so I didn’t need to worry about forgetting the passwords while being under the stress of the tournament. And the colour of the potions did match the colours of the stones, so it was easy to remember which password I should use for which stone.

 

“We better be on our way,” Remus said, looking at the time. It was already a quarter past six and they did not want to risk being seen by anyone. “Good luck, Harry,” he told me as he hugged me in goodbye before he climbed up on his broom to cross the ward.

 

“I’ll see you at breakfast,” Sirius said and then changed into his animagus form and ran back to the castle.

 

Severus and Bellatrix hugged me too, before they also took there leave. Tom stayed behind with the invisibility cloak.

 

“I do not want to leave you alone,” he said. Not needing to add ‘In case Dumbledore tries to do anything.’

 

“Nagini hasn’t returned yet anyway,” I replied.

 

Luckily both of our snakes returned before Madame Maxime came to collect me. They even jokingly offered us some freshly caught rabbit for breakfast, which we both declined.

 

Sirius was waited for us when we returned. “You will need a lot of patience if you get one of Krum’s stones,” he told us as he sank down on the couch. “The boy must have spent the whole night charming thousands of keys to fly with wings. You’re apparently supposed to catch the right key to open each of the two boxes that hold the stones.”

 

“I want to see how he tries to get his own stone,” Tom said.

 

“Me too,” Sirius agreed. “Especially since I sent a little Confundus Charm his way. Now all the pretty colours and shapes won’t help him identify which one is the right key.”

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

I had barely finished eating my breakfast when Dumbledore escorted Fleur, Viktor and I from the Great Hall to a small tent that had been erected outside on the grounds, placed in the middle of the three competition areas. We were forced to wait there for nearly an hour before Bagman joined us and let us outside to a stage in front of which the spectators were standing, eager for the next task to begin.

 

Bagman asked Dumbledore to read the poem that was inside the golden egg and then he went on to explain that the three of us spent the night warding our stones in the areas we’d drawn. “Now, as Mr Potter is in the lead, he’ll draw the first stone,” he announced to cheers of my fans.

 

 _Don’t give away that you know where the stone is,_ I reminded myself as I placed my hand inside the bag and concentrated on my Occlumecy skills. I pulled out a small blue stone. It was noticeably smaller than the stone I’d hidden. _Probably to prevent us from passing it off as the real stone,_ I mused. Not that it mattered as I knew exactly where that stone was.

 

“Mr Potter’s first stone is a sapphire,” Bagman announced.

 

Krum was next and drew the amethyst. I smiled inside my head. He would need to overcome one of Fleur’s defences.

 

Fleur’s first stone was the ruby. _So I won’t get away easily with simply retrieving my original stones._ But my grin still grew. _Good luck with getting rid of the Acromantulas that Bellatrix somehow talked into guarding the area where the ruby was hidden,_ I thought. I doubted that she knew that they were afraid of snakes.

 

Then it was my turn again. I received the fire opal. _Great, a swim in the lake in the middle of February,_ I groaned. I would have preferred the Quidditch pitch with all its charmed keys.

 

Krum smiled. _Of course he would,_ I thought. _Now only his original gems are left. So he gets one easy lot too. To_ _o_ _bad he doesn’t know about Sirius’ Confundus Charm._

 

Krum received the emerald. Fleur got the aquamarine, which she proudly displayed with a cheerful, “Beauxbatons!”

 

Bagman then explained to us that we had until six to get our two stones and bring them here. He informed the spectators that they weren’t allowed to follow us, which made them boo at him.

 

I seriously doubted that any of them would be brave enough to go into the Forbidden Forest or would dare to dive into the Black Lake.

 

Dumbledore tried to calm down the spectators by offering to ask the centaurs and merepeople to give him a short report on what happened inside the forest and lake and promised that someone would be positioned in one of the towers that overlooked the Quidditch pitch, so that they could report with the help of a pair of Omnioculars.

 

With the spectators now somewhat appeased, Bagman continued. “Ready?” he asked us. “On three. One! Two! THREE!” he called out and Krum and I immediately sprinted towards the lake.

 

When I reached the shore, Krum was already transfiguring himself into a shark. Not wanting him to steal the fire opal from right under my nose, I quickly removed my shoes and socks.

 

I was surprised to see Fleur had been following us. _D_ _oes_ _she want to stop us from taking her stones in person? Or_ _is_ _her plan to use the cover of the water to corner either of us to tell her whether we had one of her stones?_ I did not know and the only thing I cared about right now was not to lose to Krum, who had a head start.

 

So I pulled out one portion of the Gillyweed Severus had provided me. I hoped that it tasted similar to the seaweed in sushi, but I was sorely mistaken. _Yuck! The taste is horrible. Hopefully I won’t need to take another portion today,_ I prayed as I jumped into the lake when I was suddenly unable to breath normally.

 

 _Cold!_ I thought with a shudder, glad that only my face, hands and feet were directly exposed to the ice-cold water, the rest was protected by the clothes that Severus and Tom had enchanted with some new protective charms, like a strong warming charm.

 

I was surprised that the gillyweed also allowed me to see relative well in the murky water. _Where is Krum?_ I wondered as I swam deeper into the lake. _Wait! It’s Fleur who knows where she hid the stones, not Krum!_ I realized, having focused on the wrong champion. _Where would Fleur hid_ _e_ _the gems?_ I asked myself. _Would she risk get_ _ting_ _close to where the creatures of the lake lived?_ _Can she enchant them with her Veela powers to make them_ _d_ _o as she bid?_ I wondered but then I remembered that Hermione told me during our preparation for the task that merepeople would only think about doing someone else’s bidding if they spoke Mermish, Veela powers or not.

 

As the minutes passed my initial stress and adrenaline level decreased, allowing me to remember what else we discussed in preparation for the task. _How could I forget all our plans and strategies?_ I chided myself. _Okay, what was the plan for such a situation?_ I tried to remember. _Ah, yes! If possible try to follow the champion who goes after his own stone to watch what they did to hide the stone to get a feeling for the potential hiding place for your stone and what wards were used and how they can be dispelled._

 

 _Fleur should_ _be_ _right_ _on my heals,_ _so I better hide and see what she’ll do._ I looked around and found a good hiding place. With a bit of luck, I could follow Fleur right to where I needed to go.

 

I’d just taken cover behind a large stone and some seaweed on the ground when I saw Fleur swim pass me, her head enclosed by a Bubble-Head Charm. With some distance I followed behind her, assured that I would not walk into any traps that she’d set. But I still focused on my surrounding as she would have no influence on the creatures that lived inside the lake, who could attack us at any time for intruding into their territory.

 

We were approaching what seemed to be the village of the merepeople. _Had she been able to manip_ _u_ _late the_ _m_ _somehow_ _after all_ _?_ I wondered. But Fleur kept her distance from the village. She seemed to look for something, most likely a landmark that showed her where she hid one of the gems, like I did in the forest.

 

When she found what she was looking for, she cast a spell I did not catch but resulted in her wand softly glowing green and then turned left. As I followed after her, I was nervous that the closer we came to the hiding place, the more paranoid she would get and in consequence would start looking over her shoulder to check if anyone was following her. But she seemed so focused on her self-set task and whatever the changing colours of her glowing wand meant, that she did not look back. Neither did she notice the group of Grindylows that was closing in on her from the left.

 

As she already spent the whole of last night in the lake, she should be able to handle them by herself, I argued and hid behind the nearest boulder to wait for her to get rid of them. With an overall harmless scratch to her left arm, the Grindylows made themselves known. Fleur immediately spun around. At first it looked like she had the situation under control, she was able to blast away one of the seven Grindylows that surrounded her, making the others retreat slightly. It didn’t last long though. Soon one of them was brave enough to start another attack. Fleur, having concentrated on the Grindylows to her right, was too late to get out of the way from its attack. This success spurned on the others, and they closed in on her all at once. While Grindylows were creatures that I’d studied in third year and thus should have been easy to defend against for a seventeen year old, if it was six against one and they were coming in from all sides, it became a hard battle.

 

Fleur did her best, but one of them destroyed her Bubble-Head charm and she was left without any air to breathe. I was about to help her as the Grindylows prevented her from reaching the surface and with it the much needed air, when I saw a shark coming our way. _No, not a shark. Krum!_ I saw how his transfigured eyes widened, clearly having seen what predicament Fleur was in. He did not help her though. He sped right atop of her in the direction she had been going before she’d been attacked.

 

 _That_ _JERK_ _!_ I thought angrily as I hurried towards Fleur to save her. If she didn’t get some air soon, she would suffocate. With some well aimed stunners and blasting curses, I was able to quickly get the Grindylows to leave Fleur alone. _Recasting the Bubble-Head charm will not work, there’s no air here to create the bubble. I don’t have a choice then,_ I thought as I searched inside my pant pockets for a small dose of the gillyweed. Fleur reached out her hand to me, desperately grasping at my leg, her eyes pleading me to save her. She knew as well as I that she wouldn’t make it to the surface in time; we were too deep.

 

“Eat!” I commanded as I leaned down and pressed a small portion of the gillyweed to her lips, glad that the gillyweed allowed me to speak underwater. It would not last long, but ten minutes was all she needed to reach the surface where she could call for help.

 

Fleur seemed to like the transformation as much as I did, but once she was able to breathe again and had taken three long and deep breaths, she thanked me heartily, going so far as to give me a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Your welcome,” I replied. “Any tips where I can find the fire opal?” I asked. Saving her life should be rewarded with a little hint, shouldn’t it? I at least hoped so.

 

“Ehm.” She was wrinkling her forehead in thought. “It’s not there,” she said, pointing behind us, where in the distance I was just barely able to make out Krum.

 

I was relieved to hear this.

 

“I don’t know why I even came down here,” she muttered to herself, but the water easily carried the sound to my ears.

 

“The fire opal?” I pressed.

 

“Oui,” she said. “The outermost left and the second from the right statue in the centre of the merepeople village build a line. Just follow the line in the direction of their backs for about two hundred meters and you’ll be close to where the stone is,” she told me.

 

“Thank you,” I replied. “You should get to the surface. The effect will not last more than five to ten minutes,” I advised. She quickly thanked me once more and then hurried upwards while I swam back to the merepeople village.

 

I used the Four-Point Spell to see in which direction the imaginary line of the statues pointed to, before I roughly measured the distance, from time to time checking if I was still going the right way and watching out for any other creature. When I believed that I was about where Fleur had told me to go, I began to cast the basic detecting spells the adults had taught me. With a bit of luck, they would lead me right to the stone.

 

I looked around, but I was unable to see any sign of magic. Either Fleur simply buried it in the sandy ground of the lake, I had gotten off track, or Fleur lied to me about where the stone was hidden. The first was a realistic possibility. The lake was area wise the largest of the three and without any hint it would take weeks to find a buried stone. The second option was also a likely possibility. It was hard to guess the correct distance when I was swimming instead of walking. Add to it that Fleur could have misjudged either the distance or the direction, and it was also possible that I was just in the wrong place. The last option was rather unlikely. Fleur was just saved from certain death, she would not lie to me instead of just refusing to answer the question.

 

 _What to do?_ I asked myself. _Shall I try to find the right place? Or am I_ _in_ _the right place and should start digging?_ After a moment of thinking things through, I decided that it would be faster to risk a quick search of the surrounding area. I found an orange coloured stone on the ground and used an Enlargement Charm on it to mark my current position. I would use it as the middle of my search circle.

 

I went back the way I came until I could just see the enlarged stone and recast the detection spells. Still no sign of magic. Still keeping the enlarged stone in my sight, I decided to go to the left side next. I had no luck there either. I was fearing that I really would have to blindly dig through the bottom of the lake when the third spot on the circle yielded the same result. I cannot describe how relieved I felt when I cast the spell on the three o’clock position and was able to make out a purple light about fifteen meters away from me. _Finally, some signs of magic!_

 

Cautiously I moved closer and recast the spells, hoping that the proximity would give me a better reading on the wards. Now, not only a purple light but all colours of the rainbows were visible. _Great!_ I groaned in annoyance. _This would take a while._ It was about ten minutes later, when I had only been able cast a charm to warn me if anyone or anything approached and was able to get rid of two of the presumably thirteen wards when I felt a pain at my throat. _Shit! The_ _g_ _illyweed is running out._ With a grimace, I searched in my pockets for another piece of the gillyweed, thankful that Severus had provided me with his entire stash. I took another dose, careful not to take too much or I would risk being stuck underwater after I had retrieved my stone. Especially since Krum, with his transfiguration, would be able to leave as soon as he got his stone.

 

Based on the effect of the gillyweed I guessed that it took me roughly another hour before I was able dig out the now hex free box from the sand. With a frown I looked at the keyhole on the front of the box. _Please tell me that she has not buried the key somewhere in the lake too or has kept it with her,_ I prayed. Then I remembered the Alohomora Charm. _Please work!_ When the box clicked open, I quickly flipped the lid back. It was the fire opal I needed. I let out a relieved breath as I sank down on the lake’s sandy ground.

 

Now I just need to get the sapphire and I’ll be done with this madness, I thought as I slowly swam up to the surface. It would be easier to find my way back to the shore from there. Also, I did not know for how much longer the gillyweed would last. It was a strange sensation when I finally broke the surface and suddenly was unable to breathe. Regardless of this, I was able to see the shore of the lake where I left my shoes and started to dive underwater in this direction, occasionally emerging to verify that I was still going in the right direction.

 

By the time I reached the shore, the gillyweed’s effect had still not expired. With every moment that passed, I got more and more annoyed. It felt like hours, but it probably was only five to ten minutes before I finally felt the re-transformation. Not wanting to waste another minute, I quickly got out of the water and dashed towards my shoes and socks. I shivered when a gust of wind encompassed me and cast a quick drying charm on myself before I hastily put my socks and shoes back on. I also took out the contact lenses and put my glasses back on.

 

On my way towards the Forbidden Forest, I needed to cross the stage. I listened intently to Bagman’s commentary. “Now it is getting exciting. Mr Potter has finally left the Black lake. What do you think, will he be able to retrieve the second stone before Mr Krum?” A loud cheer with some mixed in boos was the answer from the audience.

 

 _So Sirius’ Confundus Charm works,_ I though with a smirk. Maybe I still have the chance to be first.

 

“Misss Delacour, she found her first stone! Now all three champions only need to retrieve one.”

 

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. After the near death experience, she’d been able to retrieve the emerald from the Acromantula in the same time that I’s needed to get the fire opal from her. I was deeply impressed by her.

 

“Are you sure?” I heard Bagman ask disbelieving. “News on Miss Delacour. Headmaster Dumbledore just informed me that the stone the Beauxbaton champion found was a duplicate. Very creative from the Hogwarts champion,” he praised me.

 

 _Thank Slytherin,_ I thought. I felt even more accomplished at the news. _It’s not your achievement though,_ I chided myself. _Bella was the one who created the duplicates._

 

Near the edge of the forest, I and Fleur crossed paths. I could not suppress my laugh when I saw her with big red fox ears. Fleur was not deterred by my laughter as she used the opportunity to thank me again by giving me a tight hug and another three kisses to my cheeks. When she finally released me, I decided to tell her that she had a replica. She would know it in another five minutes anyway, so I saw no need to hide it, especially since I was already one gem ahead of her.

 

“C'est génial!” she said, her tone of voice making it clear that it was a sarcastic comment.

 

“See it as positive,” I told her. “Me being here tells you that Krum has hidden your second stone. And you know where the emerald will definitely not be,” I told her with a wink as we walked back into the Forbidden Forest. At the edge of the assigned area we split ways.

 

“Are there more duplicates hidden?” she asked me.

 

“Maybe,” I replied as I raised a hand in goodbye on my way to the tree close to where I’d spent the previous night.

 

When I reached my destination I Accioed my broom to me. It took the broom eight minutes to reach me, its progress hindered by the dense trees as my patience level decreased once more as I’d worried about the successfulness of my spell.

 

Impatient as I was, I swung up right on my broom as soon as it was in my hands and then went upwards, counting the branches until I reached thirteen. Keeping a safe distance, I began to recite the instruction for the Shrinking Solution.

 

“ _Roast five finely chopped daisy roots on high flame_ _until all the water evaporates_ _,_ ” I began and was happy when I felt a breeze of magic softly washing over me. The Parseltongue passwords were working.

 

“ _Lower the flames to a medium heat and add a skinned Shrivelfig,_ ” I continued and with each following recited brewing step the wards around the sapphire dissolved. After “ _Sprinkle a dash of leech juice on top,_ ” the final ward and illusion spell went down and I was able to take the sapphire.

 

“Sirius!” I cursed when I felt a spell hitting me just as I got into contact with the sapphire. Storing the sapphire in my trousers pocket, I used my now free hand to touch my head. _Ears! Why has Sirius put a prank on the real stone?!_ I complained.

 

Once my feet touched the ground, I tried to cast a “Finite” on the ears, but as feared they did not vanish. _Never mind, just finish this damn task and then Sirius will take them off. Or Severus,_ I hopped and hurried towards the stage. _At least I won’t be the only one with animal ears in the Prophet,_ I thought, remembering Fleur’s predicament.

 

By the time the stage was in my sight again, I also saw Krum flying towards the same destination. Not wanting to be outdone by him, I also straddled my broom and dashed towards the stage.

 

“Nice ears, Potter!” Krum called over his shoulder, as I caught up to him. Neck and neck we flew with full speed towards the stage. Only my deep trust in my own skills made me slow down after Krum. With a thud, I fell on the stage, rolling on the ground. But I did not care about the bruises I would have tomorrow. “First!” I yelled in victory, my smile large, deaf to the calls of “How cute” and the laughter my cat ears earned me, my eyes only fixed on a defeated looking Krum.

 

“Congratulations Mr Potter for making it back here first,” Ludo Bagman said. “Now let’s see whether you or Mr Krum was the first to get your second stone.”

 

The crowd was as surprised by the announcement as Krum and I.

 

“Oh, did I forget to tell you?” Bagman asked. “The person who holds both stones in their hand first wins. So, who is our winner? It will be a close-call either way,” he announced and looked towards where the three headmasters were standing, obviously arguing with each other.

 

It took them nearly ten minutes before Dumbledore stepped forward. “Mr Krum touched his second stone, the amethyst eighty-three seconds before Mr Potter touched the sapphire,” he said and loud cheers were heard from the assembled Durmstrang students and Quidditch fans. “Mr Krum, coming in first place will be awarded forty points,” he announced to even more cheers.

 

“Mr Potter, will be awarded thirty-nine points. Not only has he come in close second place, but the Merchieftainess Murcus informed me that without Mr Potter’s help, fellow champion Fleur Delacour would have been in danger of drowning,” Dumbledore continued. This announcement was rewarded with loud cheers from the Hogwarts and Beauxbaton students mixed with calls of “Not fair” from the Durmstrang students.

 

“I still claim foul-play!” Madame Maxime complained to Karkaroff. “Someone must have befuddle her!” she accused.

 

“I can only repeat, where is your proof?” Karkaroff asked.

 

Based on Fleur’s behaviour, I could easily see where Madame Maxime was coming from. She certainly showed some sign of being Confunded. But saying so would not help anyone. There was no proof as Karkaroff already pointed out. Besides, it was not like I was not guilty of the same crime—or Sirius was.

 

So instead I suggested to Madame Maxime, “Maybe someone can let Fleur know that the task is over?”

 

If I’d known what consequence this suggestion had, I would not have made it. I’m lying, I still would have made it or maybe tried to get someone else to suggest it in my stead. Because if Hagrid had not shown up when he did, Fleur would have ended up as the Acromantulas’ lunch. Indirectly saving her for the second time that day was welcome food for the rumour mill. Little Gabrielle Delacour with her Disney inspired story of how I was her big sister’s prince Charming being at the very top of the stories going around Hogwarts.

 

It was only a week later when something good came out of the whole “Fleur’s personal prince Charming” thing. Tom had come to Hogwarts to get Sirius up to date on their current progress on their revenge on Dumbledore. On his way back, he decided to visit me.The first thing Tom did when he entered my rooms was kiss me. Hard and possessive.

 

I moaned. _Tom’s a talented kisser_ , I thought, trying my best to impress Tom too. But with my lack of experience, I feared that it would not be good enough. _Fuck it!_ I decided when Tom’s hand grabbed my braid and used it to pull my head back even further _. I will just enjoy the moment while it lasts._

 

It was not long before Tom put his other arm around my hip and guided me off my chair and towards the couch. I willingly followed his lead as I submitted to his unexpected but more than welcomed attack. Needing something to hold onto, my hands clawed into the back of Tom’s pullover.

 

It felt like I’d spent hours in my personal heaven when Tom stopped his kisses and sat down at the end of the couch. “What did I do to deserve this?” I asked, my voice husky from arousal.

 

Tom smiled. “You’re _my_ fiancé,” he explained.

 

 _Why would he be jealous?_ I wondered. Remembering all too well how my attempts to make him jealous during the summer holidays had failed. “You know I only have eyes for you,” I said as I also got into a sitting position and leaned forward to this time be the one that kissed Tom. He ended the kiss far too soon for my liking.

 

“Keep that in mind the next time you’re alone with Miss Delacour,” Tom warned.

 

I was confused. “I was not alone with her since the second task,” I told him.

 

Now it was Tom’s turn to be confused. “Sirius said...” he began, but trailed of when he realized that my godfather must have told him an exaggerated version of the current rumours. “That chiseller.”

 

I laughed. “Does this mean I can kiss you whenever I want now?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

 

Tom answered by tickling me until I pleaded mercy. Life couldn’t be better for me.

 

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

 

 **Note:** Dumbledore cannot see through the invisibility cloak like in canon simply because in this reality he did never borrow the cloak from James Potter and thus had no time to study it and find a spell to see through the cloak.

 **AN:** I hope you liked the second task. Feel free to leave some suggestions for the last task: The labyrinth. I probably will write a new chapter for my other stories before working on the third task. Also, I soon need to start working on my PhD thesis so expect a delay of four months before the next part will come out.


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